GIFT  OF 


A  Moslem  Seeker  After  God 


By 
S.  M.  Zwcmer,  F.  R.  G.  S. 

Mohammed  or  Christ,  illustrated, 

Introduction  fy  Rt.  Rev.  C.  H.  Stileman+M.  A^  tomttimt 
Bishop  •/  Pertia 

An  account  of  the  rapid  spread  of  Islam  in  all  parts  of 
the  globe,  the  methods  employed  to  obtain  proselytes,  its 
immense  press,  its  strongholds,  and  suggested  means  to  be 
adoptejd  to  counteract  the  evil. 

The  Disintegration  of  Islam,  illustrated, 

lamo,  cloth        ....... 

Dr.  Zwemer  traces  the  collapse  of  Islam  as  a  political 
power  in  Europe,  Asia  and  Africa,  as  well  as  the  inevitable 
effect  of  the  impact  of  Western  civilization. 

Childhood  in  the  Moslem  World. 

Illustrated,  8vo,  cloth,  •       • 

Both  in  text  and  illustrations,  Dr.  Zwemer' s  new  book 
covers  much  ground  hitherto  lying  untouched  in  Moham- 
medan literature, 

Arabia  :  The  Cradle  of  Islam.    Maps 

and  numerous  Illustrations,  cloth       ... 

"The  comprehensive  scope  of  the  volume  covers  a  wide 
range  of  interest,  scientific  and  commercial,  historical  and 
literary,  sociological,  religious."— Outlook. 


By  A.  E.  and  S.  M.  Zwemer 
Zigzag  Journeys  in  the   Camel 

rminfrv       Arabia  in  Picture  and  Story.    Illustrated, 
<-c/*     ™'J'      nmo,  cloth 

"Dr.  and  Mrs.  Zwemer  are  charming  guides.  We  com- 
mend the  book  highly  for  interest  and  information." 

—Missionary  Review  of  the  World. 

Topsy-Turvy  Land.    Arabia  Pictured  for  Chil. 
dren.    Illustrated,  12010,  cloth  •        • 

"  A  book  of  pictures  and  stories  for  big  children  and  small 
grown-up  folk,  for  all  who  love  Sinbad  the  Sailor  and  his 
strange  country."— Boston  Globe. 


The  old  ruined  Mosque  at  Tus,  Persia,  probably  dating  from 
the  Eleventh  Century. 


The  supposed  grave  of  Abu  Hamid  Al  Ghazali  at  Tus. 


A  Moslem  Seeker 
After  God: 


Showing  Islam  at  its  Best 

in 

the   Life  and  Teaching  of  Al-Ghazali 

Mystic  and  Theologian  of  the 

Eleventh  Century 


By 
SAMUEL  M.  ZWEMER 

Author  of  "  The  Disintegration  of  Islam"  "Child- 
hood in  the  Moslem  World"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW   YORK  CHICAGO 

Fleming     H.     Revell     Company 

LONDON  AND  EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


J3P- 


CARPENT1ER 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago :  1 7  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London :  2 1  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh :  75  Princes  Street 


To  the  Faculties  and  Students 

of  the 
Theological  Seminary,  New  Brunswick,  N.  J. 

and  the 

College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis,  Ind. 

where  the  several  chapters  of  this 

book  were  given  as  lectures 

1918-1920 


M204015 


Introduction 

By  DR.  J.  RENDEL  HARRIS 

AL-GHAZALI  was  a  rare  combination  of 
scholar  and  saint,  of  the  orthodox  Mos- 
lem and  the  aberrant  Sufi.  This  work  is 
a  real  contribution  to  the  history  of  religion,  and 
will  have  a  peculiar  value  which  attaches  to  Sufism 
at  the  present  time.  On  the  one  hand  we  have  the 
anthropologists  engaged  in  the  task  (and  for  the 
most  part  successfully  engaged)  of  tracing  all  re^ 
ligions  to  a  common  root,  or  roots,  in  the  constitu- 
tion and  the  fears  of  primitive  man ;  on  the  other 
hand  we  have  the  mystics,  of  whom  the  Sufi  is  a 
leading  representative,  who  are  occupied  in  demon- 
strating experimentally  that  all  religions  which 
start  at  the  bottom  find  their  way  to  the  top. 
William  Penn  said  something  in  the  same  direc- 
tion when  he  affirmed  that  all  good  men  were 
of  the  same  religion,  and  that  they  would 
know  one  another  when  the  livery  was  off.  But 
what  did  he  mean  by  taking  the  livery  off?  The 
abstinence  from  rites,  ceremonies  and  the  like  is  a 
negative  process  which  certainly  would  not  satisfy 

7 


8  INTEODUCnON 

the  genuine  Sufi.  He  would  say  with  St.  Paul, 
"  Not  that  we  would  be  unclothed,  but  rather 
clothed  upon,  that  mortality  may  be  swallowed  up 
of  life."  That  is  real  mystic  language,  and  sug- 
gests that  we  shall  know  one  another,  not  so  much 
by  being  denuded  of  tradition  and  superstition 
(however  desirable  the  process  may  be  in  some 
points  of  view),  as  by  putting  on  the  robe  of  light 
and  sitting  down  in  the  heavenly  places  with  Jesus 
Christ,  and  with  any  one  else  whom  He  calls  into 
His  companionship. 

Al-Ghazali  tells  us  in  his  Confessions  that  he 
found  the  true  way  of  life  in  Sufism,  that  is,  in 
Pantheism,  yet  he  remained  an  orthodox  Moslem, 
that  is,  a  Transcendentalist.  At  the  present  time, 
when  the  effects  of  a  war  of  unheard  and  un- 
equalled severity  are  still  perplexing  men,  the 
Transcendent  and  the  Immanent  views  of  God  are 
alike  hard  put  to  it.  Sufism  is  on  its  back,  Trans- 
cendentalism can  scarcely  keep  its  feet.  It  is  a 
poor  time  of  day  for  seeing  God  in  all,  almost  as 
ill  a  time  for  believing  Him  to  be  over  all.  Where 
speculation  fails,  or  limps  along  with  lame  feet  or 
with  broken  wing,  there  must  be  some  other  way  of 
taking  us  to  God  Himself,  beyond  reason  and  safer 
than  imagination.  Al-Ghazali  found  it,  when  he 
abandoned  his  lecture-room  and  went  into  the 
wilderness.  While  he  still  continued  to  recite  the 
formulas,  which  affirm  the  Unity  of  God  and  the 
authority  of  His  Apostle,  he  found  his  way  into 


DSTTEODUOTION  9 

the  Sufi  inner  sanctuary,  where  one  understands 

that 

"  he  who  lies, 

Folded  in  favour  on  the  Sultan's  breast, 
Needs  not  a  letter  nor  a  messenger." 

The  book  tells  us  something  about  this  side  of  his 
experience  in  the  Quest  of  Life,  and  when  the  story 
is  finished  we  are  reminded  not  to  seek  the  Living 
among  the  dead,  but  to  believe  that  the  same  Lord 
is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  Him  in  truth. 

J.  K  H. 

Friends'  Settlement, 
Woodbrooke,  England. 


Preface 

THERE  are  a  score  of  lives  of  Mohammed, 
the  great  Arabian  Prophet,  in  the  English 
language,  yet  there  is  no  popular  biog- 
raphy of  the  greatest  of  all  Moslems  since  his  day, 
Al-Ghazali.  Even  the  Encyclop&dia  Britannica 
gives  only  scant  information.  Professor  Duncan 
B.  Macdonald  prepared  a  life  of  Al-Ghazali  with 
special  reference  to  his  religious  experiences  and 
influence  in  a  paper  published  in  the  twentieth  vol- 
ume of  "  The  Journal  of  the  American  Oriental 
Society"  (1899),  but  now  out  of  print  His 
scholarly  investigations  and  conclusions,  however, 
deal  with  Al-Ghazali's  inner  experiences  and  his 
philosophy,  rather  than  with  his  environment  and 
the  events  of  his  life.  We  acknowledge  our  great 
indebtedness  to  his  paper  and  to  the  original  Arabic 
sources  on  which  it  was  based,  especially  the  intro- 
duction to  the  Commentary  on  the  Ihya  by  Sayyid 
Murtadha  in  ten  volumes  and  entitled  Ithaf  as- 
sa'ada.  I  have  found  additional  material  in  Al-Gha- 
zali's writings  and  other  books  mentioned  in  the 
bibliography  given  in  the  appendix  of  this  book, 
especially  the  Tabaqat  ash-shafai'ya  by  As-Subqi, 
who  wrote  long  before  Murtadha  and  to  whom 
Macdonald  refers,  but  whose  work  he  did  not  use. 

ii 


12  PREFACE 

The  study  of  Al-Ghazali's  fife  and  writings  will, 
more  than  anything  else,  awaken  a  deeper  sym- 
pathy for  that  which  is  highest  and  strongest  in 
the  religion  of  Islam ;  for  the  student  of  his  works 
learns  to  appreciate  Islam  at  its  best.  As  Jalal-ud- 
din  says: 

"  Fools  buy  false  coins  because  they  are  like  the  true. 
If  in  the  world  no  genuine  minted  coin 
Were  current,  how  would  forgers  pass  the  false  ? 
Falsehood  were  nothing  unless  truth  were  there, 
To  make  it  specious.    'Tis  the  love  of  right 
Lures  men  to  wrong.    Let  poison  but  be  mixed 
With  sugar,  they  will  cram  it  into  their  mouths. 
Oh,  cry  not  that  all  creeds  are  vain !    Some  scent 
Of  truth  they  have,  else  they  would  not  beguile." 

There  is  a  real  sense  in  which  Al-Ghazali  may  be 
used  as  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  Moslems  to  Christ. 
His  books  are  full  of  references  to  the  teaching  of 
Christ.  He  was  a  true  seeker  after  God. 

Islam  is  the  prodigal  son,  the  Ishmael,  among  the 
non-Christian  religions;  this  is  a  fact  we  may  not 
forget.  Now  we  read  in  Christ's  matchless  para- 
ble of  the  prodigal  how  "  When  he  was  yet  a  great 
way  off  his  father  saw  him  and  ran  out  to  meet 
him  and  fell  on  his  neck  and  kissed  him."  Have 
missionaries  always  had  this  spirit?  No  one  can 
read  the  story  of  Al-Ghazali's  life,  so  near  and  yet 
so  far  from  the  Kingdom  of  God,  so  eager  to  enter 
and  yet  always  groping  for  the  doorway,  without 


PEEFACE  13 

fervently  wishing  that  Al-Ghazali  could  have  met  a 
true  ambassador  of  Christ.  Then  surely  this  great 
champion  of  the  Moslem  faith  would  have  become 
an  apostle  of  Christianity  in  his  own  day  and 
generation.  By  striving  to  understand  Al-Ghazali 
we  may  at  least  better  fit  ourselves  to  help  those 
who,  like  him,  are  earnest  seekers  after  God  amid 
the  twilight  shadows  of  Islam.  His  life  also  has 
a  lesson  for  us  all  in  its  devout  Theism  and  in  its 
call  to  the  practice  of  the  Presence  of  God. 

S.  M.  Z. 
Cairo,  Egypt, 


Contents 

I.  THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY      ...       19 

II.  BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION          .        .        .51 

III.  TEACHING,    CONVERSION,  AND  RETIRE- 

MENT      81 

IV.  WANDERINGS,  LATER  YEARS  AND  DEATH     1 1 1 

V.  His  CREED  AND  CREDULITY  .        .        .145 

VI.  His  WRITINGS 169 

VII.  His  ETHICS 195 

VIII.  AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC     .        .        .    219 

IX.  JESUS  CHRIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI       .        .255 
APPENDIX  : 

A.  Bibliography        ....  295 

B.  Translations  of  Al-Ghazali's  Works  297 

C.  List  of  Al-Ghazali's  Works  .         .  299 

D.  Comparative  Table  of  Events       .  303 


«5 


Illustrations 

The  old  ruined  Mosque  at  Tus,  Persia,  probably  dating 

from  the  Eleventh  Century        .          .          .    Frontispiece 

The  supposed  grave  of  Abu  Hamid  Al-Ghazali  at  Tus    " 

Facing  page 
The  East  Gate,  Damascus 54 

Interior  of  the  Great  Mosque  at  Damascus.      In  the 

center  the  Mihrab  showing  the  direction  of  prayer     106 
and  to  the  right  the  Great  Pulpit 

The  Dome  of  the  Rock,  Jerusalem,  as  seen  from  the 

'Lutheran  Church      .          ,          .          .         .          .126 

Pen-case  of  Al-Ghazali,  made  of  brass  inlaid  with  silver, 

preserved  in  the  Arab  Museum,  Cairo          .          .      172 

A  facsimile  page  of  the  Ihya  (Vol.  II,  page  180,  Cairo 
Ed.).  It  gives  a  diagram  of  the  prayer  kibla  and 
the  rules  to  be  observed  in  facing  it  correctly  .  1 80 

Facsimile  title  page  of  the  last  book  Al-Ghazali  wrote, 
entitled  "  Minhaj-Al-'Abidin."  On  the  margin 
this  Cairo  edition  gives  another  of  his  celebrated 
works,  "  Badayat-al-Hadaya  "  .  .  .  .232 

A  Mihrab  or  prayer-niche  made  of  cedar  wood  and 
dating  from  the  Eleventh  Century.  (Cairo 
Museum) 242 


I 

The  Eleventh  Century 


"Between  the  civilizations  of  Christendom  and 
Islam  there  is  a  gulf  which  no  human  genius,  no 
concourse  of  events,  can  entirely  bridge  over.  The 
most  celebrated  Orientals,  whether  in  war  or  policy, 
in  literature  or  learning,  are  little  more  than  names 
for  Europeans." 

— "  The  Assemblies  of  Al-Hariri,"  by 
Thomas  Chenery. 

"  With  the  time  came  the  man.  He  was  Al-Ghazali, 
the  greatest,  certainly  the  most  sympathetic  figure  in 
the  history  of  Islam,  and  the  only  teacher  of  the  after 
generations  ever  put  by  a  Muslim  on  a  level  with  the 
four  great  Imams.  The  equal  of  Augustine  in 
philosophical  and  theological  importance.  By  his  side 
the  Aristotelian  philosophers  of  Islam,  Ibn  Rushd 
and  all  the  rest,  seem  beggarly  compilers  and 
scholiasts.  Only  Al-Farabi,  and  that  in  virtue  of  his 
mysticism,  approaches  him.  In  his  own  person  he 
took  up  the  life  of  his  time  on  all  its  sides  and  with 
it  all  its  problems.  He  lived  through  them  all  and 
drew  his  theology  from  his  experience." 

— "Muslim  Theology,  Jurisprudence  and  Con- 
stitutional Theory,"  by  D.  B.  Macdonald. 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY 

THE  great  characters  of  history  may  be 
compared  to  mountain  peaks  that  rise 
high  above  the  plains  and  the  lower  foot- 
hills and  are  visible  from  great  distances  because 
they  dominate  the  landscape.  In  the  historical 
study  of  Islam  four  names  stand  out  prominently. 
They  are  those  of  Mohammed  himself;  of  Al- 
Bokhari,  the  most  celebrated  collector  of  the 
Traditions;  of  Al-Ash'ari,  the  great  dogmatic 
theologian  and  the  opponent  of  rationalism ;  and  of 
Al-Ghazali,  the  reformer  and  mystic.  The  last 
named  has  left  a  larger  imprint  upon  the  history 
of  Islam  than  any  man  save  Mohammed  himself. 
"If  there  had  been  a  prophet  after  Mohammed," 
said  As-Suyuti,  "  it  would  have  been  Al-Ghazali." 
It  is  in  his  life,  and  more  especially  in  his  writ- 
ings, that  I  believe  we  can  see  Islam  at  its  best. 
In  trying  to  escape  the  dead  weight  of  Tradition 
and  the  formalism  of  its  requirements,  Moslems 
are  more  and  more  finding  relief  in  the  way  of  the 
mystic.  Of  all  those  who  have  found  a  deeper 
spiritual  meaning  in  the  teachings  of  the  Koran  and 

21 


22        A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

even  in  the  multitudinous  and  puerile  detail  of  the 
Moslem  ritual,  none  can  equal  Al-Ghazali.  "  He 
was,"  says  Jamal-ud-Din,  "  the  pivot  of  existence 
and  the  common  pool  of  refreshing  waters  for  all, 
the  soul  of  the  purest  part  of  the  people  of  the 
Faith,  and  the  road  for  obtaining  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Merciful.  .  .  .  He  became  the  unique 
one  of  his  own  day  and  for  all  time  among  the 
Moslem  learned."  "Al-Ghazali,"  said  another 
writer,  nearly  contemporary,  "  is  an  i^am  by 
whose  name  breasts  are  dilated  and  souls  revived, 
in  whose  literary  productions  the  ink  horn  exults 
and  the  paper  quivers  with  joy,  and  at  the  hearing 
of  whose  message  voices  are  hushed  and  heads  are 
bowed." 

A  celebrated  saint,  Ahmed  As-Sayyed  Al- 
Yamani  Az-Zabidi,  also  a  contemporary  of  Al- 
Ghazali,  said,  "  When  I  was  sitting  one  day,  lo,  I 
perceived  the  gates  of  heaven  opened,  and  a  com- 
pany of  blessed  angels  descended,  having  with  them 
a  green  robe  and  a  precious  steed.  They  stood  by 
a  certain  grave  and  brought  forth  its  tenant  and 
clothed  him  in  the  green  robe  and  set  him  on  the 
steed  and  ascended  with  him  from  heaven  to 
heaven,  till  he  passed  the  seven  heavens  and  rent 
after  them  sixty  veils,  and  I  know  not  whither  at 
last  he  reached.  Then  I  asked  about  him,  and 
was  answered,  '  This  is  the  Imam  Al-Ghazali/ 
That  was  after  his  death;  may  God  Most  High 
have  mercy  on  him !  " 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUEY  23 

Another  story  is  related  of  him  as  follows:  "  In 
our  time  there  was  a  man  in  Egypt  who  disliked 
Al-Ghazali  and  abused  him  and  slandered  him. 
And  he  saw  the  Prophet  (God  bless  him  and  give 
him  peace!)  in  a  dream;  Abu  Bakr  and  'Omar 
(may  God  be  well  pleased  with  both  of  them!) 
were  at  his  side,  and  Al-Ghazali  was  sitting  before 
him,  saying,  '  O  Apostle  of  God,  this  man  speaks 
against  me ! '  Thereupon  the  Prophet  said, '  Bring 
the  whips ! '  So  the  man  was  beaten  on  account  of 
Al-Ghazali.  Then  the  man  arose  from  sleep,  and 
the  marks  of  the  whips  remained  on  his  back,  and 
he  was  wont  to  weep  and  tell  the  story." 

And  should  this  praise  seem  oriental  and  ex- 
travagant, we  add  the  words  of  Professor  Duncan 
B.  Macdonald,  who  has  made  a  more  thorough 
study  of  Al-Ghazali's  life  and  writings  than  any 
other  student  of  Islam: — "  What  rigidity  of  grasp 
the  hand  of  Islam  would  have  exercised  but  for  the 
influence  of  Al-Ghazali  might  be  hard  to  tell;  he 
saved  it  from  scholastic  decrepitude,  opened  before 
the  orthodox  Moslem  the  possibility  of  a  life  hid  in 
God,  was  persecuted  in  his  life  as  a  heretic,  and 
now  ranks  as  the  greatest  doctor  of  the  Moslem 
Church." 

To  understand  the  importance  of  Al-Ghazali  and 
of  his  teaching  we  must  transport  ourselves  to  the 
time  in  which  he  lived.  We  cannot  understand  a 
man  unless  we  know  his  environment.  Biography 
is  only  a  thread  in  the  vast  web  of  history,  in 


24        A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

which  time  is  broad  as  well  as  long.  Al-Ghazali 
belongs  to  the  small  company  of  torch  bearers  in 
the  Dark  Ages. 

He  was  born  at  Tus,  in  Khorasan,  Persia,  in  the 
year  1058  A.  D.,  and  died  in  1111  A.  D.  When 
Al-Ghazali  was  born  Togrul  Bey  had  just  taken 
Bagdad,  Henry  IV  was  Emperor,  Nicholas  II  was 
Pope,  the  Norman  conquest  had  just  begun  in  the 
west,  and  Asia  Minor  was  overrun  by  the  Turks  in 
the  Near  East.  Among  Al-Ghazali's  other  con- 
temporaries in  the  west  were  Hildebrand  the  Pope, 
Abelard,  Bernard,  Anselm,  and  Peter  the  Hermit. 
About  the  time  he  wrote  his  greatest  work,  God- 
frey of  Bouillon  was  King  of  Jerusalem.  Al- 
Ghazali  was  struggling  with  the  problem  of  Islam 
in  its  relation  to  the  human  heart  thirsting  for  God, 
about  two  hundred  years  after  Al-Kindi  had  written 
his  remarkable  apology  for  the  Christian  faith  at 
the  court  of  Haroun-ar-Rashid  and  two  hundred 
years  before  Raymond  Lull  laid  down  his  life  a 
martyr  in  North  Africa. 

The  condition  of  the  Moslem  world  had  utterly 
changed  since  the  days  when  Busrah  with  its  rival 
city  Kufa  were  dominated  by  the  victorious  Arabs 
of  Omar's  Caliphate.  The  Abbasside  Caliphs  ^f 
the  eleventh  century  were  almost  as  much  the 
shadows  of  former  power  as  the  Emperors  of  the 
East ;  they  retained  little  more  than  their  religious 
supremacy.  Togrul  Bey,  the  grandson  of  Seljuk, 
had  been  confirmed  by  the  powerless  Caliph  Al- 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUEY  25 

Qa'im  bi-amr  Allah,  in  all  his  conquests,  loaded 
with  honours,  saluted  as  King  of  the  East  and 
West,  and  endowed  with  the  hand  of  the  Caliph's 
daughter.  In  the  next  reign,  that  of  Al-Muqtadi, 
the  Seljuk  Turks  captured  Jerusalem. 

"About  the  year  1000,"  says  Noldeke,1  "  Islam 
was  in  a  very  bad  way.  The  Abbasside  Caliphate 
had  long  ceased  to  be  of  any  importance,  the  power 
of  the  Arabs  had  long  ago  been  broken.  There 
was  a  multitude  of  Islamite  States,  great  and 
small;  but  even  the  most  powerful  of  these,  that  of 
the  Fatimids,  was  very  far  from  being  able  to  give 
solidity  to  the  whole,  especially  as  it  was  Shi'ite. 
.  .  .  These  nomads  (the  Turks)  caused  dread- 
ful devastation,  trampled  to  the  ground  the  flourish- 
ing civilization  of  vast  territories,  and  contributed 
almost  nothing  to  the  culture  of  the  human  race; 
but  they  mightily  strengthened  the  religion  of  Mo- 
hammed. The  rude  Turks  took  up  with  zeal  the 
faith  which  was  just  within  reach  of  their  intellec- 
tual powers,  and  they  became  its  true,  often  fanat- 
ical, champions  against  the  outside  world.  They 
founded  the  powerful  empire  of  the  Seljuks,  and 
conquered  new  regions  for  Islam  in  the  northwest. 
After  the  downfall  of  the  Seljuk  empire  they  still 
continued  to  be  the  ruling  people  in  all  its  older 
portions.  Had  not  the  warlike  character  of  Islam 
been  revived  by  the  Turks,  the  Crusaders  perhaps 

*"  Sketches  from  Eastern  History,"  Theodore  Noldeke. 
London,  1892,  p.  98. 


26        A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

might  have  had  some  prospect  of  more  enduring 
success." 

Togrul  Bey  was  invested  with  the  title  of  Sultan 
in  the  royal  city  of  Nishapur,  A.  D.  1038.  Accord- 
ing to  Gibbon,  he  was  the  "  father  of  his  soldiers 
and  of  his  people.  By  a  firm  and  equal  adminis- 
tration Persia  was  relieved  from  the  evils  of  an- 
archy ;  and  the  same  hands  which  had  been  imbrued 
in  blood  became  the  guardians  of  justice  and  the 
public  peace.  The  more  rustic,  perhaps  the  wisest, 
portion  of  the  Turkmans  continued  to  dwell  in  the 
tents  of  their  ancestors ;  and,  from  the  Oxus  to  the 
Euphrates,  these  military  colonies  were  protected 
and  propagated  by  their  native  princes.  But  the 
Turks  of  the  court  and  city  were  refined  by  busi- 
ness and  softened  by  pleasure:  they  imitated  the 
dress,  language,  and  manners  of  Persia;  and  the 
royal  palaces  of  Nishapur  and  Rei  displayed  the 
order  and  magnificence  of  a  great  monarchy.  The 
most  deserving  of  the  Arabians  and  Persians  were 
promoted  to  the  honours  of  the  state;  and  the 
whole  body  of  the  Turkish  nation  embraced  with 
fervour  and  sincerity  the  religion  of  Mahomet/' 

The  first  of  the  great  Seljuk  Sultans  was  con- 
spicuous by  his  zeal  for  the  Moslem  faith.  He 
spent  much  time  in  prayer,  and  in  every  city  which 
he  conquered  built  new  mosques.  By  force  of 
arms  he  delivered  the  Caliph  of  Bagdad  at  the 
head  of  an  irresistible  force  and  taught  the  people 
*"  Decline  and  Fall  of  the  Roman  Empire." 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY  27 

of  Mosul  and  Bagdad  the  lesson  of  obedience. 
Rescued  from  his  enemies,  the  alliance  between  the 
Caliph  and  the  Sultan  was  cemented  by  the  mar- 
riage of  Togrul's  sister  with  the  successor  of  the 
Prophet.  In  1063  Togrul  died  and  his  nephew 
Alp  Arslan  succeeded  him.  His  name,  therefore, 
was  pronounced  after  that  of  the  Caliph  in  public 
prayer  by  all  the  Moslems  of  the  Near  East. 

The  character  of  his  rule  Gibbon  gives  us  in  a 
sentence:  "The  myriads  of  Turkish  horse  over- 
spread a  frontier  of  600  miles  from  Taurus  to 
Erzeroum,  and  the  blood  of  136,000  Christians  was 
a  grateful  sacrifice  to  the  Arabian  prophet."  The 
"  valiant  lion,"  for  that  is  the  significance  of  his 
name,  displayed  at  once  the  fierceness  and  gener- 
osity of  a  typical  Oriental  ruler.  Christians  suf- 
fered dreadful  persecution.  Enemies  were  assas- 
sinated ;  but  the  learned,  the  rich,  and  the  favoured 
were  lavishly  rewarded.  Arslan  was  a  valiant 
warrior  of  the  faith  and  as  eager  for  the  battle- 
field as  those  whom  Moore  describes: — 

"  One  of  that  saintly  murderous  brood 
To  carnage  and  the  Koran  given, 
Who  think  through  unbeliever's  blood 
Lies  their  directest  path  to  heaven. 
One  who  will  pause  and  kneel  unshod 
In  the  warm  blood  his  hand  hath  poured 
To  mutter  o'er  some  text  of  God 
Engraven  on  his  reeking  sword." 

Armenia  was  laid  waste  in  the  cruelest  manner 


28        A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

when  the  capital  was  taken  on  June  6,  1064  We 
are  told  that  "  human  blood  flowed  in  torrents,  and 
so  great  was  the  carnage,  that  the  streets  were 
literally  choked  up  with  dead  bodies;  and  the 
waters  of  the  river  were  reddened  from  the  quan- 
tity of  bloody  corpses."  The  wealthy  inhabitants 
were  tortured,  the  churches  pillaged,  and  the  priests 
flayed  alive.  Al-Ghazali  was  then  six  years  old. 

In  1072  Alp  Arslan  was  assassinated.  His 
eldest  son,  Malek  Shah,  succeeded  him.  He  ex- 
tended the  conquests  of  his  father  beyond  the  Oxus 
as  far  as  Bokhara  and  Samarkand,  until  his  name 
was  inserted  on  the  coins  and  in  the  prayers  of  the 
Tartar  kingdom  on  the  borders  of  China.  "  From 
the  Chinese  frontiers,  he  stretched  his  immediate 
jurisdiction  or  feudatory  sway  to  the  west  and 
south,  as  far  as  the  mountains  of  Georgia,  the 
neighbourhood  of  Constantinople,  the  holy  city  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  spicy  groves  of  Arabia  Felix. 
Instead  of  resigning  himself  to  the  luxury  of  the 
harem,  the  shepherd  king,  both  in  peace  and  war, 
was  in  action  in  the  field." 

Nizam  Al-Mulk  was  his  vizier,  and  it  is  largely 
due  to  his  influence  that  the  study  of  science  and 
literature  revived  to  such  a  remarkable  degree. 
The  calendar  was  reformed,  schools  and  colleges 
erected,  and  the  learned  competed  with  each  other 
for  the  favour  of  royalty.  For  thirty  years  Nizam 
Al-Mulk  was  honoured  by  the  Caliph  as  the  very 
oracle  of  religion  and  science.  But  at  the  age  of 


THE  ELEVENTH  OENTTJEY  29 

ninety-three,  the  venerable  statesman,  to  whom,  as 
we  shall  see  later,  Al-Ghazali  owed  so  much,  was 
dismissed  by  his  master,  accused  by  his  enemies, 
and  murdered  by  a  fanatic.  The  last  words  of 
Nizam  attested  his  innocence,  and  the  remainder  of 
Malek's  life  was  short  and  inglorious. 

The  Arabic  language  had  become  dominant 
everywhere.  Its  vocabulary  had  leavened  the 
whole  lump  of  languages  in  the  Near  East.  Every 
race  with  which  the  Arabs  came  in  contact  was 
more  or  less  Arabized.  "  The  extent  of  this  influ- 
ence," says  Chenery,1  "  may  be  perceived  by  com- 
paring the  Persian  of  Firdausi  with  that  of  Sa'di. 
The  language  of  the  former,  who  flourished  in  the 
early  part  of  our  eleventh  century,  is  tolerably  pure, 
while  the  Gulistan,  which  was  produced  some  two 
hundred  and  fifty  years  later,  is  in  some  places  little 
more  than  a  piecing  together  of  Arabic  words  with 
a  cement  of  the  original  tongue.  It  is  to  be  noticed, 
also,  that  the  latter  author  introduces  continually 
Arabic  verses,  as  the  highest  ornaments  of  his 
work,  and  assumes  that  his  readers  are  acquainted 
with  this  classic  and  sacred  tongue." 

Trade  routes  extended  everywhere.  There  was 
intercourse  with  India  and  China  on  the  east,  as 
well  as  with  the  Spice  Islands,  so  called,  of  Malay- 
sia. Caravans  carried  trade  across  the  whole  of 
Central  Asia  and  Northern  Arabia  to  the  empo- 

1 "  The  Assemblies  of  al-Hariri,"  trans,  by  Thomas 
Chenery.  I^ondon,  1867.  Vol.  I,  Introduction,  p.  5. 


80         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

riums  of  the  West.  Spain  had  intercourse  with 
Persia.  Al-Hariri  praises  Busrah  "  as  the  spot 
where  the  ship  and  the  camel  meet,  the  sea  fish  and 
the  lizard,  the  camel-leader  and  the  sailor,  the  fisher 
and  the  tiller."  In  other  words  it  was  the  port  and 
emporium  for  all  the  lands  watered  by  the  Eu- 
phrates and  Tigris.  The  same  was  true  of  Alex- 
andria for  the  West. 

We  have  evidences  that  an  extensive  trade  was 
carried  on  between  Arabia  and  China  in  walrus  and 
ivory.  An  extensive  work  exists  written  in  Chinese 
in  the  twelfth  century  on  trade  with  the  Arabs  of 
which  a  recent  translation  has  been  published  at 
Petrograd.  More  remarkable  still  is  the  fact  that 
in  Scandinavia  thousands  of  Kufic  coins  have  been 
found,  nearly  all  of  which  date  from  the  eleventh 
century.  This  would  indicate  that  even  this  re- 
mote part  of  Europe  was  in  touch  with  the  Near 
East.1 

Judging  from  literature  and  history,  it  was  a 
time  of  looseness  of  morals  and  of  divorce  between 
religion  and  ethics,  even  more  startling  than  in  the 
world  of  Islam  to-day.  There  were  those  who 
wrote  commentaries  on  the  marvels  of  the  Koran, 
like  Al-Harawi,  yet  did  not  scruple  to  indulge  in 
private  wine-drinking  and  carousals  and  loose  con- 
versation. The  place  of  wine,  women,  and  song, 
not  only  in  popular  literature  and  poetry,  but  ev,en 

*Der  Islam,  Band  V,  Heft  2/3;  C.  H.  Becker,  Strassburg, 
1914,  pp.  239,  291. 


THE  ELEVENTH  OENTUEY  31 

in  the  table  talk  of  theologians  and  philosophers  is 
clear  evidence.  Huart  remarks  in  regard  to  the 
celebrated  "  Book  of  the  Monasteries/'  which  is  an 
anthology  of  the  convents  of  the  Near  East:  "  We 
must  not  forget  that,  when  Moslems  went  to  Chris- 
tian cloisters,  it  was  not  to  seek  devotional  im- 
pulses, but  simply  for  the  sake  of  an  opportunity 
of  drinking  wine,  the  use  of  which  was  forbidden 
in  the  Mohammedan  towns.  The  poets,  out  of 
gratitude,  sang  the  praises  of  the  blessed  spots 
where  they  had  enjoyed  the  delights  of  intoxica- 
tion." Those  who  dared  to  preach  and  write 
against  this  public  immorality  had  to  suffer  the 
consequences;  and  because  hypocrites  were  in 
power  reformers  were  not  heeded. 

We  read  of  Ibn  Hamdun  (1101-1167),  that 
when  he  openly  attacked  the  evils  which  he  saw 
around  him  in  Bagdad,  he  was  dismissed  from  his 
public  office  as  secretary  of  state,  cast  into  prison, 
and  left  to  die.  Punishments  were  cruel.  Ampu- 
tations for  theft,  in  accordance  with  the  Koran 
legislation,  were  matters  of  such  every-day  occur- 
rence that  the  maimed  man  was  always  a  suspect. 
We  read  of  Al-Zamakhshari,  that  one  of  his  feet 
had  been  frost-bitten  during  a  winter  storm,  neces- 
sitating an  amputation,  and  so  he  went  about  with 
a  wooden  leg,  but  he  also  carried  about  with  him  a 
written  testimony  of  witnesses  to  prove  that  he  had 
been  maimed  by  accident,  and  not  in  punishment 
for  a  crime. 


32         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Al-Baihaki,  the  chronicler  of  the  court  at  Bag- 
dad, shows  us  that  the  zeal  for  the  faith  was  often 
accompanied  by  a  reckless  disregard  for  the  law  of 
Islam  as  regards  the  use  of  fermented  liquor.  Not 
only  the  soldiers  and  their  officers  had  drunken 
brawls,  but  the  Sultan  Mas'ud  used  to  enjoy  regu- 
lar bouts  in  which  he  frequently  saw  his  fellow 
topers  "  under  the  table."  Here  is  a  scene  repre- 
sented as  having  taken  place  at  Ghazni,  the  capital 
of  Khorasan  province.  "  Fifty  goblets  and  flagons 
of  wine  were  brought  from  the  pavilion  into  the 
garden,  and  the  cups  began  to  go  round.  '  Fair 
measure/  said  the  amir,  '  and  equal  cups — let  us 
drink  fair/  They  grew  merry  and  the  minstrels 
sang.  One  of  the  courtiers  had  finished  five  tank- 
ards— each  held  nearly  a  pint  of  wine — but  the 
sixth  confused  him,  the  seventh  bereft  him  of  his 
senses,  and  at  the  eighth  he  was  consigned  to  his 
servants.  The  doctor  was  carried  off  at  his  fifth 
cup;  Khalil  Dawud  managed  ten,  Siyabiruz  nine, 
and  then  they  were  taken  home ;  everybody  rolled 
or  was  rolled  away,  till  only  the  Sultan  and  the 
Khwaja  Abd-ar-Razzak  remained.  The  Khwaja 
finished  eighteen  goblets  and  then  rose,  saying, 
'  If  your  slave  has  any  more  he  will  lose  both  his 
wits  and  his  respect  for  your  Majesty/  Mas'ud 
went  on  alone,  and  after  he  had  drunk  twenty- 
seven  full  cups,  he  too  arose,  called  for  water  and 
prayer-carpet,  washed,  and  recited  the  belated  noon 
and  sunset  prayers  together  as  soberly  as  if  he  had 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUBY  33 

not  tasted  a  drop;  then  mounted  his  elephant  and 
rode  to  the  palace." 

Mas'ud  was  put  to  death  in  1040.  His  sons  and 
descendants  for  more  than  a  century  ruled  this  part 
of  the  Moslem  world.  But  Ghazni  fell  from  the 
proud  position  of  the  capital  of  a  kingdom  to  a 
mere  dependency  of  the  Empire  of  Malek  Shah. 

The  eleventh  century  was  a  period  when  the  na- 
tions of  Western  Europe  were  beginning  to  crys- 
tallize both  as  regards  their  governments  and  civ- 
ilization. Their  influence  was  felt  at  home  and 
abroad,  although  the  masses  were  still  in  the  depths 
of  barbarism.  Among  the  clergy  and  nobility 
something  of  order  and  civilization,  and  social  de- 
velopment had  appeared,  but  we  are  told  by  one 
writer  that  it  was  a  striking  characteristic  of  the 
time  to  find  side  by  side  with  barbarian  violence 
and  disorder,  and  the  constant  display  of  the  most 
brutal  passions,  a  strong  religious  feeling.  This 
feeling  often  took  the  form  of  superstition  and 
fanaticism,  the  performance  of  meritorious  works, 
especially  a  pilgrimage  to  the  holy  sepulcher. 
Thousands  risked  their  life  and  health,  and  spent 
all  their  fortune  to  reach  the  holy  city,  with  the 
same  devotion  and  sacrifice  which  we  still  witness 
among  the  ardent  Russian  pilgrims  of  to-day. 

When  Asia  Minor  and  Syria  were  conquered  by 
the  Turks  this  access  to  Jerusalem  was  cut  off.  In 

1  Mediaeval  India,  in  "The  Story  of  the  Nations  Series," 
Stanley  I^ane-Poole,  New  York,  1903,  p.  37. 


34         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

1076  (Al-Ghazali  was  then  eighteen  years  old) 
they  massacred  three  thousand  of  these  Christian 
people  and  their  subsequent  rule  was  relentless  in 
its  tyranny.  We  read  that  "  the  venerable  Patri- 
arch was  dragged  by  the  hair  along  the  streets,  and 
cast  into  a  dungeon ;  the  clergy  of  every  sect  were 
insulted;  and  the  unhappy  pilgrims  were  made  to 
suffer  every  indignity  and  abuse." 

This  treatment  of  Christian  pilgrims  produced  a 
storm  of  indignation  and  anger  throughout  the 
West.  Peter  the  Hermit  himself  visited  Jerusalem 
and  returned  to  Europe  to  arouse  the  nations.  The 
result  was  the  first  Crusade,  in  which  Pope  Urban 
II  cooperated.  Three  hundred  thousand  half- 
armed,  half-naked  peasants  forced  their  way  across 
Europe  along  the  Rhine  and  the  Danube.  Only 
one-third  of  their  number  reached  the  shores  of 
Asia.  There  they  were  utterly  destroyed  and 
only  a  pyramid  of  bones  remained  to  tell  of  their 
fate. 

The  Crusade  under  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  was  a 
well-appointed  military  expedition  embracing  the 
flower  of  Europe.  There  are  said  to  have  been 
mustered  in  the  plains  of  Bithynia  one  hundred 
thousand  horsemen  in  full  armour  and  six  hundred 
thousand  footmen.  These  numbers  may  be  exag- 
gerated, and  pestilence  and  famine  thinned  their 
ranks,  but  in  less  than  three  years  they  had  attained 
the  great  object  of  their  expedition.  In  1097  they 
laid  siege  to  Nicea  and  captured  it.  They  ad- 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUEY  35 

vanced  against  Antioch  and  after  seven  weary 
months  laid  siege  to  the  city.  In  1099  they  ad- 
vanced on  Jerusalem  and  after  a  siege  of  forty  days 
the  holy  city  surrendered.  "  The  merciless  Franks 
did  not  fail  to  inflict  a  terrible  vengeance  for  their 
own  sufferings  and  the  indignities  which  had  been 
heaped  upon  their  religion  and  their  race.  The 
Jews  were  burned  in  their  synagogues ;  and  seventy 
thousand  Moslems  were  put  to  the  sword.  For 
three  days  the  city  was  given  up  to  indiscriminate 
pillage  and  massacre,  until  a  pestilence  was  bred  by 
the  putrefaction  of  the  slain." 

Soon  Godfrey  and  his  successors  extended  their 
dominions  until  only  four  cities,  Aleppo,  Damas- 
cus, Hamath,  and  Hums  remained  in  the  possession 
of  the  Moslems  in  Syria.  Everywhere  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  Prophet  were  filled  with  grief  and 
shame  and  with  a  great  longing  to  wipe  away  the 
disgrace  which  had  fallen  on  their  religion. 

"  In  the  year  493  A.  H.,"  says  Muir,1  "  conster- 
nation was  spread  throughout  the  land  by  the  cap- 
ture of  Jerusalem,  and  cruel  treatment  of  its  in- 
habitants. Preachers  went  about  proclaiming  the 
sad  story,  kindling  revenge,  and  rousing  men  to 
recover  from  infidel  hands  the  Mosque  of  Omar, 
and  scene  of  the  Prophet's  heavenly  flight.  But 
whatever  the  success  elsewhere,  the  mission  failed 
in  the  East,  which  was  occupied  with  its  own  trou- 
bles, and  moreover  cared  little  for  the  Holy  Land, 

1 "  The  Caliphate,  its  Rise,  Decline  and  Fall,"  1892,  p.  57& 


36         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

dominated  as  it  then  was  by  the  Fatimide  faith. 
Crowds  of  exiles,  driven  for  refuge  to  Bagdad,  and 
joined  there  by  the  populace,  cried  out  for  war 
against  the  Franks.  But  neither  Sultan  nor  Caliph 
had  ears  to  hear.  For  two  Fridays  the  insurgents, 
with  this  cry,  stormed  the  Great  Mosque,  broke  the 
pulpit  and  throne  of  the  Caliph  in  pieces,  and 
shouted  down  the  service;  but  that  was  all.  No 
army  went/' 

Among  Moslems  themselves  religious  rancour 
abounded.  At  present  the  four  orthodox  sects 
worship  together  and  live  in  peace  as  neighbours, 
but  in  those  days  there  were  frequent  and  hot  dis- 
putes between  the  rival  schools  and  much  contro- 
versial literature  arose,  so  that  the  hatred  between 
the  sects  was  deep  and  bitter.  The  Persian  his- 
torian, Mirkhond,  has  recorded  a  fact  which  shows 
how  implacable  the  feeling  had  become  towards  the 
close  of  the  Caliphate.  When  the  Mongols  of 
Genghiz  Khan  appeared  before  the  city  of  Rei,  they 
found  it  divided  into  two  factions — the  one  com- 
posed of  Shafi'ites,  the  other  of  Hanifites.  The 
former  at  once  entered  into  secret  negotiations  un- 
dertaking to  deliver  up  the  city  at  night,  on  condi- 
tion that  the  Mongols  massacred  the  members  ^>f 
the  other  sect.  The  Mongols,  never  reluctant  to 
shed  blood,  gladly  accepted  these  proposals,  and 
being  admitted  into  the  city,  slaughtered  the 
Hanifites  without  mercy. 

It  was  in  this  atmosphere  of  mutual  hatred,  of 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTTJEY  37 

War  and  bloodshed,  that  Al-Ghazali  spent  the  last 
years  of  his  life.  We  may  excuse  in  him  much  of 
what  would  otherwise  seem  intolerant  and  hateful, 
when  we  remember  how  the  passion  of  war  blinds 
human  judgment  and  makes  it  impossible  to  see 
any  virtue  in  the  invader. 

We  must  not  forget  that  Al-Ghazali  came  into 
close  touch  with  Oriental  Christians  from  his  boy- 
hood.1 Christianity  was  established  in  Persia  at 
the  time  of  the  Moslem  conquest,  and  the  Nestorian 
Church  withstood  its  terrific  impact  when  Zoroas- 
trianism  was  almost  destroyed.  The  coming  of 
the  Arabs  meant  to  the  Christians  only  a  change  of 
masters.  The  Nestorians  became  the  rayah,  "  peo- 
ple of  protection/'  of  the  Caliphs.  They  did  not 
immediately  sink  into  their  present  deplorable  con- 
dition. They  still  conducted  foreign  missions 
and  during  the  entire  Abbasside  period  remained 
a  very  important  factor  of  civilization  in  the  East. 

*That  there  was  not  only  close  social,  but  religious  and 
polemical  contact  between  the  learned  men  of  Christian 
sects  and  those  of  Islam  long  before  this  period,  and  es- 
pecially during  the  life  of  Al-Ghazali  is  well  known.  See 
especially  the  life  and  writings  of  Al-Kindi,  John  of 
Damascus,  and  Theodor  Abu  Qurra  as  given  by  A.  Keller  in 
"Der  Geisteskampf  des  Christentums  gegen  den  Islam  bis 
zur  Zeit  der  Kreuzziige"  (Leipzig,  1896)  and  "  Christliches 
Polemik  und  Islamische  Dogmenbilding,"  by  C.  H.  Becker 
("Festschrift  Ignaz  Goldziher,"  pp.  175-195).  The  latter 
shows  clearly  that  Islam  borrowed  considerably  from  Chris- 
tianity, through  controversy,  both  in  its  dogma  and  ritual 
even  as  late  as  the  tenth  century. 


38         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

They  were  permitted  to  restore  their  Churches,  but 
not  to  build  new  ones ;  they  were  forbidden  to  bear 
arms  or  ride  a  horse,  save  in  case  of  necessity,  and 
they  even  then  had  to  dismount  on  meeting  a  Mos- 
lem; they  were  subject  to  the  usual  poll-tax.  Yet 
the  Nestorians  were  the  most  powerful  non-Mos- 
lem community  while  the  Caliphs  reigned  at  Bag- 
dad (750-1258),  and  had  a  higher  tradition  of 
civilization  than  their  masters.  They  were  used  at 
court  as  physicians,  scribes,  and  secretaries,  and 
thus  gained  great  influence,  having  much  freedom 
in  canonical  matters,  elected  Patriarchs,  etc.  The 
Arab  scholarship  which  came  to  Spain,  and  was  a 
great  factor  in  mediaeval  learning,  begins  in  great 
part  with  the  Nestorians  of  Bagdad.  They  handed 
on  to  their  Arab  masters  the  Greek  culture  which 
was  inherited  in  Syriac  translations.  So  we  find 
the  Caliphs  treating  them  as  chief  of  the  Christian 
communities,  and  at  times  civil  authority  over  all 
Christians  had  been  given  to  the  Nestorian  Patri- 
arch. 

Early  in  the  eleventh  century  Al-Biruni,  a  Mos- 
lem writer  from  Khiva,  mentions  the  Nestorians  as 
the  most  civilized  of  the  Christian  communities 
under  the  Caliph.  He  says  that  there  are  three 
sects  of  Christians — Melchites,  Nestorians  and  Jac- 
obites. "The  most  numerous  of  them  are  the 
Melchites  and  Nestorians ;  because  Greece  and  the 
adjacent  countries  are  all  inhabited  by  Melchites, 
whilst  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  of  Syria, 


THE  ELEVENTH  CEOTUKY  39 

Irak  and  Mesopotamia  and  Khorasan  are  Nes- 
torians." 

Al-Ghazali  spent  his  first  twenty  years  in  Kho- 
rasan. Did  he  ever  become  acquainted  with  Chris- 
tianity through  perusal  of  the  Gospel  ?  We  know 
that  Arabic,  if  not  Persian,  translations  existed  at 
this  period ;  and  not  only  are  there  many  references 
to  Christ  and  His  teaching  in  Al-Ghazali's  works, 
but  there  are  some  very  few  passages  accurate 
enough  to  be  called  quotations.  He  himself  states 
as  we  shall  see  later:  "  I  have  read  in  the  Gospel." 

That  there  were  translations  of  the  Bible  into 
Arabic  to  which  Al-Ghazali  may  have  had  access  is 
probable.  Dr.  Kilgour  tells  of  Arabic  Gospel  man- 
uscripts of  the  ninth  century  and  of  translations  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  portions  of  the  New  made 
in  the  Fayyoum  before  942  A.  D.  "  To  the  tenth 
century  belong  versions  of  some  books  of  the  Old 
Testament  from  Syriac,  others  from  the  LXX., 
and  from  the  Coptic;  and  some  fresh  translations 
of  the  Pentateuch,  using  the  Samaritan  text  as  well 
as  the  Massoretic." 

Diglot  manuscripts  in  Syriac  and  Arabic  are 
quite  numerous.  The  manuscript  of  the  four  Gos- 
pels, of  which  a  few  leaves  are  now  in  the  British 
Museum,  is  a  good  specimen  of  such  a  diglot.  It 
was  brought  by  Tischendorf  from  the  Syrian  Con- 

1  Cf .    "  The  Lesser  Eastern  Churches,"  Adrian  Fortescue, 
London,  1913. 
3  Cf .   The  Moslem  World,  Vol.  VI,  p.  385. 


40         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

vent  of  St.  Mary  Deipara  in  the  Nitrian  Desert. 
In  the  early  part  of  the  eleventh  century  an  Arabic 
scholar  made  a  version  of  Tatian's  Diatessaron, 
that  early  Syriac  Harmony  of  the  Gospels  which 
helped  the  Christian  Church  to  realize  the  main 
facts  concerning  our  Saviour.  A  version  of  the 
Psalms  was  prepared  in  the  middle  of  the  same 
century  for  use  in  the  Church  services  of  the  papal 
or  Melchite  Greeks.  This  was  translated  from 
the  Greek  Psalter,  and,  from  the  place  where  it  was 
first  printed,  became  known  afterwards  as  the 
Aleppo  Psalter.1  It  remains  an  interesting  ques- 
tion whether  Al-Ghazali  in  his  travels,  or  while  still 
in  Khorasan,  ever  examined  the  New  Testament. 

We  are  told  that  the  Jews  translated  their  law 
into  Persian  by  827  A.  D.  It  is,  therefore,  hard  to 
acquit  the  Christians  of  Persia  of  negligence. 
Their  bishops  found  time  to  write  learned  treatises 
in  Persian  and  Arabic,  and  even  to  translate  Aris- 
totle, but  not  to  give  Moslems  the  Scriptures.  Yet 
Al-Kindi  and  others  like  him,  many  of  whose 
names  and  writings  are  lost,  were  not  afraid  to  give 
their  testimony  even  at  the  court  of  the  Caliphs. 
"  The  Church,"  says  W.  T.  Whiteley,2  "  had  not 
failed  to  exercise  an  influence  on  Islam  around  it, 
while  Christians  might  not,  on  peril  of  death,  seek 

'See  article  on  "The  Arabic  Bible"  in  The  Moslem 
World,  October,  1916. 

2 "  Missionary  Achievement :  "  A  survey  of  world-wide 
Evangelization,  Condon,  1907,  pp.  22,  26. 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUKY  41 

to  win  converts  direct,  a  command  occasionally 
violated  with  honour  and  success,  yet  all  the  devel- 
opment of  Islam  at  Damascus  and  Bagdad  was  in 
a  Christian  atmosphere/' 

The  Christianity  of  that  period  was,  however, 
not  the  religion  of  Christ  in  its  purity  nor  after  the 
example  of  His  love  and  toleration.  Mutual  hatred 
and  suspicion  prevented  real  intercourse  of  those 
who,  as  devout  Christians  and  devout  Moslems, 
were  both  seeking  God.  The  Moslem  was  feared 
and  the  Christian  despised.  The  followers  of 
Jesus  were  the  enemies  of  Allah  in  the  eyes  of 
Moslems. 

How  Christians  were  regarded  at  this  time  we 
may  learn  from  the  books  of  canon  law  of  this 
period,  and  that  immediately  following  upon  it. 
They  were  considered  infidels  in  the  Moslem  sense 
of  the  word,  and  were  protected  only  by  the  pay- 
ment of  a  poll  tax,  which  gave  them  certain  rights 
as  subjects.  The  most  distinguished  jurist  of  the 
Shafi'ite  sect,  An-Nawawi,  who  taught  at  Damas- 
cus in  1267,  lays  down  the  law1  as  follows:  "An 
infidel  who  has  to  pay  his  poll  tax  should  be  treated 
by  the  tax  collector  with  disdain;  the  collector  re- 
maining seated  and  the  infidel  standing  before  him, 
the  head  bent  and  the  body  bowed.  The  infidel 
should  personally  place  the  money  in  the  balance, 

*"Minhaj  et  Talibin  of  An-Nawawi,"  trans,  from  the 
French  of  L.  W.  C.  Van  Den  Berg  by  E.  C.  Howard, 
London,  1914,  pp.  467  and  469. 


42         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

while  the  collector  holds  him  by  the  beard  and 
strikes  him  upon  both  cheeks.  Infidels  should  be 
forbidden  to  have  houses  higher  than  those  of  their 
Moslem  neighbours,  or  even  to  have  them  as  high ; 
a  rule,  however,  that  does  not  apply  to  the  infidels 
who  inhabit  a  separate  quarter.  An  infidel  subject 
of  our  Sovereign  may  not  ride  a  horse;  but  a  don- 
key or  a  mule  is  permitted  him,  whatever  may  be  its 
value.  He  must  use  an  ikaf,  and  wooden  spurs, 
those  of  iron  being  forbidden  him,  as  well  as  a 
saddle.  He  must  go  to  the  side  of  the  road  to  let 
a  Moslem  pass.  He  must  not  be  treated  as  a  per- 
son of  importance,  nor  given  the  first  place  at  a 
gathering.  He  should  be  distinguished  by  a  suit 
of  coloured  cloth  and  a  girdle  outside  his  clothes. 
If  he  enters  a  bathing  house  where  there  are  Mos- 
lems, or  if  he  undresses  anywhere  else  in  their 
presence,  the  infidel  should  wear  round  his  neck  an 
iron  or  leaden  necklace,  or  some  other  mark  of 
servitude.1  He  is  forbidden  to  offend  Moslems, 
either  by  making  them  hear  his  false  doctrines,  or 
by  speaking  aloud  of  Esdras  or  of  the  Messiah,  or 
by  ostentatiously  drinking  wine  or  eating  pork. 
And  infidels  are  forbidden  to  sound  the  bells  of 
their  churches  or  of  their  synagogues,  or  celebrate^ 
ostentatiously  their  sacrilegious  rites." 

1  These  badges  of  servitude,  called  Ghayar,  are  referred  to 
as  obligatory  in  Al-Ghazali's  "  Wajiz."    See  the  chapter  on 
infidel-subjects. 

2  Richard  Gottheil  gives  the  contents  of  a  fatwa  on  the 
appointment  of  Dhimmis  to  office  dated  about  A.  D.  1126 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY  43 

"The  history  of  Christian  communities/'  says 
Margoliouth,1  "  under  Moslem  rule  cannot  be  ade- 
quately written;  the  members  of  those  communities 
had  no  opportunity  of  describing  their  condition 
safely,  and  the  Moslems  naturally  devote  little 
space  to  their  concerns.  Generally  speaking,  they 
seem  to  have  been  regarded  as  certain  old  Greek 
and  Roman  sages  regarded  women:  as  a  necessary 
annoyance.  Owing  to  their  being  unarmed  their 
prosperity  was  always  hazardous ;  and  though  it  is 
true  that  this  was  the  case  with  all  the  subjects  of  a 
despotic  state  under  an  irresponsible  ruler,  the  non- 
Moslem  population  was  at  the  mercy  of  the  mob  as 
well  as  of  the  sovereign;  they  were  likely  scape- 
goats whenever  there  was  distress,  and  even  in  the 
best  governed  countries  periods  of  distress  fre- 
quently arose." 

There  are  darker  shades  in  the  treatment  of 
Christians  and  in  the  moral  condition  of  this  period 
over  which  one  might  well  draw  the  veil,  but  some 
of  the  chapters  of  Ghazali's  Ihya  reflect  such  ter- 

and  given  by  one  Ahmad  ibn  Al  Husain.  "To  place  an 
infidel  in  authority  over  a  Moslem  would  never  enter  the 
mind  of  one  who  had  a  sound  heart.  He  who  does  so  must 
either  be  a  godless  fellow  or  be  ignorant  of  Moslem  law 
and  practice.  He  attempts  to  prove  that  a  Dhimmi  (i.  e. 
Jew  or  Christian)  is  not  even  to  be  used  as  a  scribe,  a 
money-changer,  or  a  butcher;  citing  passages  from  the 
Koran  and  the  Traditions"  ("Festschrift  Ignaz  Goldziher 
von  Carl  Bezold,"  Strassburg,  1911,  pp.  203-208). 

1 "  The  Early  Development  of  Mohammedanism/1  Condon, 
1914,  p.  131. 


44         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

rible  conditions  as  Margoliouth  describes:  "A 
form  of  passion  which  is  nameless  would  appear  at 
one  time  to  have  been  as  familiar  among  Moslems 
as  of  old  among  Hellenes.  Christian  lads  seem 
often  to  have  been  the  unhappy  objects  of  this  pas- 
sion. A  story  is  told  us  by  the  biographer  Yakut 
of  a  young  monk  of  Edessa  or  Urfah  who  had  the 
misfortune  to  attract  the  fancy  of  one  Sa'ad  the 
copyist.  The  visits  and  attentions  of  this  Moslem 
became  so  offensive  that  the  monks  had  to  put  a 
stop  to  them.  Thereupon  this  personage  pined 
away,  and  was  finally  found  dead  outside  the  mon- 
astery wall.  The  Moslem  population  declared  that 
the  monks  had  killed  him,  and  the  governor  pro- 
posed to  execute  and  burn  the  young  monk  who 
had  occasioned  the  disaster,  and  scourge  his  col- 
leagues. They  finally  got  off  by  paying  a  sum  of 
100,000  dirhems." 

Not  only  among  Moslems,  however,  but  among 
Christians  as  well,  morals  were  at  a  low  ebb  in  the 
eleventh  century.  One  of  the  annalists  of  the 
Roman  Church  says  it  was  an  iron  age  barren  of 
all  goodness,  a  leaden  age  abounding  in  all  wicked- 
ness. "  Christ  was  then,  as  it  appears,  in  a  very 
deep  sleep,  when  the  ship  was  covered  with  waves ; 
and  what  seemed  worse,  when  the  Lord  was  thus 
asleep,  there  were  no  disciples,  who  by  their  cries 
might  awaken  him,  being  themselves  all  fast 
asleep." 

Enemies  of  the  Papacy  have  perhaps  exaggerated 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTUET  45 

the  vices  and  crimes  of  the  popes  in  this  and  the 
preceding  century;  but  the  Church,  on  the  testi- 
mony of  its  own  writers,  was  immersed  in  pro- 
f aneness,  sensuality,  and  lewdness.  When  Otho  I, 
Emperor  of  Germany,  came  to  Rome,  he  intro- 
duced moral  reforms  by  the  power  of  the  sword, 
but  according  to  Milner,1  "  The  effect  of  Otho's 
regulations  was  that  the  popes  exchanged  the  vices 
of  the  rake  and  the  debauchee  for  those  of  the 
ambitious  politician  and  the  hypocrite ;  and  gradu- 
ally recovered,  by  a  prudent  conduct,  the  domineer- 
ing ascendency,  which  had  been  lost  by  vicious  ex- 
cesses. But  this  did  not  begin  to  take  place  till 
the  latter  end  of  the  eleventh  century." 

Missionary  effort  in  this  century  was  confined  to 
work  in  Hungary,  the  unevangelized  portions  of 
Denmark,  Poland,  and  Prussia.  Adam  of  Bremen, 
who  wrote  in  1080,  says:  "Look  at  the  very 
ferocious  nation  of  the  Danes.  For  a  long  time 
they  have  been  accustomed,  in  the  praises  of  God, 
to  resound  Alleluia.  Look  at  that  piratical  people. 
They  are  now  content  with  the  fruits  of  their  own 
country.  Look  at  that  horrid  region,  formerly 
altogether  inaccessible  on  account  of  idolatry;  they 
now  eagerly  admit  the  preachers  of  the  word." 

The  Prussians  continued  pagans  in  a  great  meas- 
ure throughout  this  century.  We  read  that  eighteen 
missionaries  sent  out  to  labour  among  them  were 

'Milner,  "The  History  of  the  Church  of  Christ/' 
London,  1834,  p.  §31,  Vol.  II. 


46         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

massacred.  They  seemed  to  have  been  among  the 
last  of  the  European  nations  to  submit  to  the  yoke 
of  Christ. 

The  noblest  figure  of  the  century  in  the  West,  in 
the  annals  of  Christendom,  was  undoubtedly  that 
of  Anselm.  He  was  born  about  the  time  of  Al- 
Ghazali,  and  died  in  1109.  His  life  in  many  re- 
spects is  a  parallel  to  that  of  his  contemporary. 
Both  were  theologians  and  both  were  mystics,  seek- 
ing rest  for  their  souls  in  withdrawing  from  the 
world  and  its  allurements.  Both  were  apologists 
for  the  Faith  and  opponents  of  Infidelity  and  philos- 
ophy. Both  exerted  an  immense  influence  by  their 
writings  as  well  as  through  teaching;  and  if  Al- 
Ghazali  sought  the  revival  of  religious  life  in  Islam 
through  his  Ihya,  Anselm  gave  employment  to  his 
active  mind  in  writing  his  celebrated  treatise  "  Cur 
Deus  Homo?  "  Both  of  them  refuted  philosophers 
in  their  effort  to  establish  the  Faith. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  that 
Anselm's  famous  book  is  now  used  in  Arabic  trans- 
lation by  missionaries  to  Moslems,  and  that  Al- 
Ghazali's  "  Confessions "  have  been  put  into  the 
hands  of  the  English  reader  as  a  testimony  of  his 
sincerity  and  devotion. 

Both  Anselm  and  Al-Ghazali  lived  and  wrote 
under  a  deep  consciousness  of  the  world  to  come, 
the  terrors  of  the  judgment  day,  and  the  doom  of 
the  wicked.  This  also  was  characteristic  of  the 
times. 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTTTKY  47 

To  understand  the  time  in  which  Al-Ghazali 
lived  we  must  also  remember  that  it  was  one  of 
great  literary  activity  under  the  Abbasside  Caliphs 
of  Bagdad  and  the  Seljuk  sultans.  We  have  seen 
how  rulers  rewarded  literary  genius,  established 
schools,  and  furthered  education  on  religious  lines. 
Arabic  literature  affords  a  galaxy  of  names  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh  century  in  almost 
every  department  of  Moslem  learning. 

Among  Ghazali's  celebrated  contemporaries, 
men  of  literary  fame,  we  may  mention  Abiwardi 
(d.  1113),  the  poet;  Ibn  Al-Khayyat,  who  was 
born  at  Damascus  in  1058  and  died  in  Persia  in 
1125;  Al-Ghazi  (b.  1049),  who  composed  elegies 
and  panegyrics  at  Nizamiyya  College,  was  a  col- 
lege mate  of  Ghazali's,  and  died  in  Khorasan ;  Al- 
Tarabalusi  (b.  1080),  a  younger  contemporary. 
But  the  most  famous  poet  of  all  was  Al-Hariri 
(1054-1122),  whose  "Assemblies"  throw  so  much 
light  on  the  manners  and  morals  of  this  period. 
Among  the  men  at  the  Nizamiyya  University  were 
Al-Khatib  (b.  1030),  the  great  philologist;  and 
Ibn  Al-Arabi,  born  at  Seville  in  1076,  who  visited 
Bagdad  to  attend  the  teaching  of  Al-Ghazali.  The 
greatest  of  all  the  Shafi'ite  doctors,  Al-Ruyani,  was 
also  a  contemporary  of  Al-Ghazali.  He  taught  at 
Nishapur  and  wrote  the  most  voluminous  book  on 
jurisprudence  in  existence,  called  "  The  Sea  of 
Doctrine."  In  1108,  just  as  he  had  finished  one  of 
his  lectures  he  was  murdered  by  a  fanatic  of  the 


48         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Assassin  sect,  who  were  then  holding  the  castle  of 
Alamut  in  the  mountains.  We  must  also  mention 
a  schoolmate  of  Al-Ghazali,  Al-Harrasi  (1058- 
1110),  who  studied  at  Nishapur  under  the  Imam 
Al-Haramain,  was  made  his  assistant,  and  then 
went  to  Bagdad,  where  he  taught  theology  in  the 
Nizamiyya  University  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Nor 
must  we  forget  Al-Baghawi,  who  wrote  a  famous 
commentary  on  the  Koran,  and  other  works  of  the- 
ology (1122);  Al-Raghib  Al-Ispahani,  who  died 
in  1108,  and  wrote  a  dictionary  of  the  Koran,  ar- 
ranged in  alphabetical  order,  called  Mufradat  alfaz 
Al-Koran,  with  quotations  from  the  traditions  and 
from  the  poets ;  he  also  wrote  a  treatise  on  morals, 
which  Al-Ghazali  always  carried  about  with  him 
(Kitab  ad-dharia),  and  a  commentary  on  the 
Koran.  Among  the  early  contemporaries  of  Al- 
Ghazali  we  must  not  forget  to  mention  Ali  bin 
'Uthman  Al-Jullabi  Al-Hujwiri,  the  author  of  the 
oldest  Persian  treatise  on  Sufism  extant.  He  was 
born  in  Ghazni,  Afghanistan,  and  died  in  A.D.  1062, 
when  Al-Ghazali  was  fourteen  years  old.  Al- 
Hujwiri  travelled  far  and  wide  through  the 
Mohammedan  Empire  and  his  famous  work 
Kashf  al-Mahjub  anticipates  much  of  the  teaching 
of  Al-Ghazali,  who  must  have  been  familiar  with 
this  author.  And  to  complete  this  already  long 
list  of  celebrities,  we  may  mention  Al-Maidani  of 
Nishapur,  who  died  in  1124,  having  written  a 
great  work  on  Arabic  proverbs;  Al-Zamakhshari, 


THE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY  49 

born  in  1074,  who  wrote  a  famous  commentary 
on  the  Koran;  Ibn  Tumart,  the  noted  philosopher 
of  the  West  who  attended  Al-Ghazali's  lectures  at 
Nizamiyya ;  and  ash-Shahristani  who  wrote  on  the 
various  religions  and  sects — the  standard  work 
among  all  Moslems  to-day  on  comparative  re- 
ligion. The  period  was  in  many  respects  the 
golden  age  of  Islamic  literature,  and  it  is  high 
praise  indeed  that,  in  the  judgment  of  Moslem  and 
Christian,  Al-Ghazali  surpassed  all  his  literary 
contemporaries,  if  not  in  style  and  eloquence,  at 
least  in  the  scope  and  character  of  his  writings — 
still  more  by  the  enduring  and  outreaching  in- 
fluence of  his  life.  The  story  of  that  life  and  the 
character  of  his  message  we  will  now  attempt  to 
sketch  for  the  reader. 


II 

Birth  and  Education 


"Ghazali  is  without  doubt  the  most  remarkable 
figure  in  all  Islam.  His  doctrine  is  the  expression  of 
his  own  personality.  He  abandoned  the  attempt  to 
understand  this  world.  But  the  religious  problem  he 
,  comprehended  much  more  profoundly  than  did  the 
philosophers  of  his  time.  These  were  intellectual  in 
their  methods,  like  their  Greek  predecessors,  and 
consequently  regarded  the  .doctrines  of  Religion  as 
merely  the  products  of  the  conception  or  fancy  or 
even  caprice  of  the  lawgiver.  According  to  them 
Religion  was  either  blind  obedience,  or  a  kind  of 
knowledge  which  contained  truth  of  an  inferior  order. 

"  On  the  other  hand  Ghazali  represents  Religion  as 
the  experience  of  his  inner  Being.  It  is  for  him 
more  than  law  and  more  than  Doctrine;  it  is  the 
Soul's  experience.^) 

—"Philosophy  In  Islam,"  7\  7.  DeBoer. 


n 

BIRTH  AND  EDUCATION 

AS  already  stated,  Al-Ghazali  was  born  and 
educated  in  Khorasan,  Persia,  and  there 
also  he  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  life. 
Persia,  as  Huart  expresses  it,  possessed  "  an  in- 
tangible force,  the  Aryan  genius,  the  powerful, 
imaginative,  and  creative  mind  of  the  great  Indo- 
European  family,  the  artistic,  philosophic,  and  in- 
tellectual brain  which,  from  the  Abbasside  period  on- 
ward, so  mightily  affected  Arab  literature,  enabling 
it  to  develop  in  every  quarter  of  the  Caliph's  realms, 
and  to  produce  the  enormous  aggregate  of  works/' 
It  was  this  Aryan  genius  which  explains  much  of 
the  powerful  influence  of  Al-Ghazali  upon  Moslem 
thought,  and  the  revival  of  that  influence  in  our 
day  when  Islam  is  again  facing  disintegrating 
forces.  At  the  time  of  Al-Ghazali,  Persian  in- 
fluence was  supreme.  It  pervaded  everything. 
The  Arabs  had  ceased  to  write.  The  realms  of 
poetry,  theology,  and  science,  were  dominated  by 
those  of  Persian  birth.  All  posts,  administrative 
and  legal,  were  held  by  men  who  were  not  Arabs, 
and  yet  the  language  they  used  was  that  of  the 
Koran,  and  remained  the  sole  literary  language  of 
the  huge  empire  of  the  Caliphs.  "All  races,  Per- 

53 


54         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

sians,  Syrians,  Berbers  from  Maghrib,  were  melted 
and  amalgamated  in  this  mighty  crucible." 

Al-Ghazali  was  a  Persian  by  birth,  an  Aryan  in 
his  modes  of  thought,  a  Semite  in  his  religion  and 
he  became  a  cosmopolitan  by  travel  and  education. 
His  long  residence  in  all  the  great  centres  of  Islam 
of  his  day  brought  him  into  close  touch  with  men 
of  every  school  of  thought  and  followers  of  all 
manners  of  religions  and  philosophies.  When  we 
remember  this,  we  have  the  key  to  his  enormous 
literary  productiveness.  His  horizon  stretched 
from  Afghanistan  to  Spain,  and  from  Kurdistan 
to  Southern  Arabia.  What  happened  outside  the 
Dar  ul  Islam  in  infidel  Europe  was  brought  to  the 
notice  of  all  by  the  Crusades. 

Men  of  learning  had  intercourse  by  correspond- 
ence with  those  of  similar  tastes  in  every  part  of 
the  Moslem  world.  We  have  records  of  letters  re- 
ceived by  Al-Ghazali  from  Spain  and  Morocco  as 
well  as  from  Egypt,  Syria,  and  Palestine.  Ques- 
tions of  jurisprudence,  philosophy,  and  theology 
were  referred  by  Sultans  to  celebrated  authorities 
for  reply.  All  this  produced  the  cosmopolitan  at- 
mosphere we  find  in  his  works. 

The  poet  Moore  describes  Al-Ghazali's  native 
land  as 

"...     the  delightful  Province  of  the  Sun, 
The  first  of  Persian  lands  he  shines  upon, 
Where,  all  the  loveliest  children  of  his  beam, 
Flowerets  and  fruits  blush  over  every  stream, 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  65 

And,  fairest  of  all  streams,  the  Murga  roves 
Among  Merou's  bright  palaces  and  groves." 

Khorasan,  indeed,  signifies  "  the  land  of  the 
sun,"  and  was  one  of  the  four  geographical  divi- 
sions into  which  the  ancient  kingdom  of  the  Sas- 
sanians  was  divided.  They  were  named  according 
to  the  cardinal  points  of  the  compass.  After  the 
Arab  conquests  the  name  was  used  both  for  a 
definite  province  and  also  in  a  looser  sense  for  the 
whole  eastern  region  of  Persia.  Even  now  the 
boundaries  of  the  province  are  scarcely  determined. 
The  total  area  is  about  150,000  square  miles,  and 
the  present  population  not  over  800,000.  It  was 
doubtless  far  more  in  Al-Ghazali's  day. 

Towards  the  north  and  southwest  Khorasan  is 
mountainous.  In  the  east  the  country  is  hilly,  but 
between  the  mountain  ranges  there  extend  broad 
tracts  of  waste  land.  By  far  the  most  extensive 
of  these  saline  wastes  is  the  Dasht-i-Kabir,  or  Great 
Salt  Desert  of  Khorasan.  Throughout  the  prov- 
ince, and  especially  near  Tus,  the  arid  plains  and 
the  grassy  valleys  have  been  engaged  in  a  perpetual 
struggle  for  the  mastery.  The  shifting  sands  have 
already  absorbed  some  towns  and  villages.  There 
are  scarcely  any  rivers,  and  the  few  streams  are 
brackish  and  intermittent,  losing  themselves  in  the 
great  salt  desert.  The  salt  brought  down  by  the 
rivers  is  deposited  in  the  marshes.  The  fierce 
summer  heat  dries  these  up  until  the  winter  floods 
occur  again.  This  process  being  repeated  for  ages, 


56         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

in  the  course  of  time  the  whole  stretch  of  soil  over 
which  the  marsh  extends  has  become  incrusted 
with  salt. 

Travellers  and  students  of  climate  seem  to  be 
agreed  that  the  country  offers  unmistakable  evi- 
dence of  desiccation.  Ruins  of  cities  and  villages 
are  incredibly  numerous  and  point  to  a  larger  popu- 
lation and  better  climate  and  irrigation  in  the  days 
past.  It  would  not  be  just  to  attribute  the  decay 
of  Persia  entirely  to  the  devastations  of  war  and 
the  misrule  of  Islam. 

"A  comparison  of  the  four  provinces  of  Khora- 
san,  Azerbaijan,  Kirman,  and  Seyistan  is  instruct- 
ive," says  Ellsworth  Huntington.1  Khorasan  "has 
suffered  from  war  more  severely  than  has  any 
other  province  of  Persia.  Its  northern  portion, 
where  the  rainfall  is  heaviest,  and  where  the  great- 
est amount  of  fighting  has  taken  place,  is  to-day 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  portions  of  Persia.  It 
contains  numerous  ruins,  but  they  are  by  no  means 
such  impressive  features  as  are  those  farther  south. 
The  southern  and  drier  part  of  the  province  is  full 
of  ruins,  and  has  suffered  great  depopulation. 
Azerbaijan,  which  .  .  .  has  suffered  from  war 
more  than  any  province  except  Khorasan,  is  the 
most  prosperous  and  thickly  settled  part  of  Persia. 
The  relative  abundance  of  its  water  supply  renders 
its  future  hopeful.  Seyistan  has  suffered  from 

'"The  Pulse  of  Asia,"  Houghton,  Mifflin  &  Co.,  New 
York,  1907,  p.  325. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  57 

wars,  but  less  severely  than  the  two  preceding  prov- 
inces. Nevertheless,  it  has  been  depopulated  to  a 
far  greater  extent.  Its  extreme  aridity  renders 
recovery  well-nigh  impossible,  except  along  the 
Helmund.  Kirman  lies  so  remote  behind  its  bar- 
riers of  desert  and  mountains  that  it  has  suffered 
from  war  much  less  than  any  of  the  three  other 
provinces.  Yet  its  ruined  cities  and  its  appearance 
of  hopeless  depopulation  are  almost  as  impressive 
as  those  of  Seyistan.  If  war  and  misgovernment 
are  the  cause  of  the  decay  of  Persia,  it  is  remark- 
able that  the  two  provinces  which  have  suffered 
most  from  war,  and  not  less  from  misgovernment, 
should  now  be  the  most  prosperous  and  least  de- 
populated ;  while  the  two  which  have  suffered  less 
from  war  and  no  more  from  misgovernment  have 
been  fearfully,  and,  it  would  seem,  irreparably 
depopulated." 

The  surface  of  the  province  of  Khorasan  to-day 
consists  mainly  of  highlands,  the  saline  deserts,  and 
the  fruitful  well-watered  upland  valleys.  In  these 
fruitful  regions  rice,  cotton,  saffron,  but  especially 
melons  and  other  fruits,  are  raised  in  profusion. 
Other  products  are  manna,  gum,  asafcetida  for  ex- 
port to  India,  and  turquois.  The  chief  manu- 
factures have  always  been  sabres,  pottery,  carpets, 
woolen  and  cotton  goods. 

The  town  of  Mashad,  the  present  capital  of 
Khorasan,  has  supplanted  the  older  city  and  dis- 
trict of  Tus,  which  was  an  ancient  capital.  The 


58         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

ruins  of  this  city  lie  fifteen  miles  to  the  northwest. 
As  early  as  the  tenth  century  we  have  references 
to  the  birthplace  of  Al-Ghazali.  Thus  Mis'ar 
Muhalhil  (about  941  A.  D.)  writes:  "  Tus  is  made 
up  of  the  union  of  four  towns,  two  of  which  are 
large  and  the  other  two  of  minor  importance;  its 
area  is  a  square  mile.  It  has  beautiful  monuments 
that  date  from  the  time  of  Islam,  such  as  the  house 
of  Hamid,  son  of  Kahtabah,  the  tomb  of  Ali,  son 
of  Musa,  and  that  of  Rashid  in  the  environs  (lit. 
gardens)  of  the  town."  Istakhri  (951  A.  D.), 
writing  ten  years  later,  speaks  of  Tus  as  a  depend- 
ency with  four  large  towns  or  settlements.  He 
says:  "Taking  Tus  as  a  dependency  of  the  province 
of  Nishapur,  its  towns  are  Radkan,  Tabaran, 
Bazdghur,  and  Naukan,  in  which  (latter)  is  the 
tomb  of  Ali,  son  of  Musa  ar-Riza  (may  the  peace 
of  God  be  upon  him),  and  the  tomb  of  Haroun 
ar-Rashid.  .  .  .  The  tomb  of  Ar-Riza  is  about 
one-quarter  of  a  farsakh  distant  towards  the  vil- 
lage called  Sanabadh."  The  best  summary  of  the 
history  of  Tus  and  description  of  its  present  con- 
dition is  given  by  Professor  A.  V.  Williams  Jack- 
son in  his  most  interesting  book,  "  From  Constanti- 
nople to  the  Home  of  Omar  Khayyam."  He  tells 
us  that  the  name  of  the  town  is  as  old  as  the  half- 
legendary  warrior  Tusa  of  the  Avesta,  who  gave 
battle  against  Turan.  Alexander  the  Great 
passed  through  it  in  pursuit  of  Bessus,  the  slayer 
of  the  last  Darius.  During  the  Zoroastrian  sway, 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  69 

the  city  of  Tus  shared  with  Nishapur  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  the  seat  of  a  Nestorian  Christian 
bishop.  When  the  Arab  conquest  of  Persia  came 
Tus  fell  before  the  invaders  and  it  became  a  great 
Moslem  centre,  famous  especially  as  the  home  of 
the  poet  Firdausi,  who  was  born  there  about  935 
A.  D.  and  died  1025  A.  D. 

Professor  Jackson  thus  describes  the  present 
ruined  condition  of  the  city:  "  The  crumbling  walls 
of  the  dead  city  were  once  broad  and  lofty  ram- 
parts of  clay  and  rubble,  much  like  those  already 
mentioned  at  Bustam  and  Rei,  but  they  had  be- 
come much  flattened  with  the  lapse  of  ages,  al- 
though traces  of  their  towers  were  still  to  be  seen, 
while  their  outline  showed  the  contour  of  the  town, 
which  must  have  formed  a  very  irregular  quadri- 
lateral, following  roughly  the  points  of  the  com- 
pass. .  .  .  The  scene,  as  we  saw  it,  presented 
a  strange  paradox  of  the  destructive  effects  of  the 
hand  of  man,  and  the  eternal  power  of  nature  to 
rise  and  bloom  again.  The  devastating  inroads  of 
the  Ghuzz  hordes  and  the  Mongol  armies,  aided 
by  earthquakes,  had  indeed  laid  mighty  Tus  in 
ruins:  but  its  dust  still  contains  the  resurrection 
seed  of  flowers  and  grain,  bringing  life  anew  in 
the  midst  of  death.  Acres  of  barley  and  fields  of 
thick  clover  spread  their  rich  green  on  all  sides,  in 
contrast  with  stretches  of  arid  waste  that  told  only 
too  well  the  story  of  ruin  wrought  in  the  past." 
Professor  Jackson  goes  on  to  say:  "  It  is  clear  that 


60        A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

the  ruined  site  of  Tus  we  have  been  examining, 
with  the  Rudbar  and  Rizan  Gates,  formed  part  of 
the  borough  of  Tabaran,  an  important  section  of 
the  town  in  Firdausi's  day,  when  the  city  covered 
a  large  area  comprising  several  thickly  populated 
centres,  as  we  know  from  the  Oriental  geographers 
of  the  tenth  century,  or  the  period  covering  the 
better  portion  of  the  poet's  life."  It  was  in 
Tabaran  that  Al-Ghazali  was  buried,  and  there  he 
must  have  had  his  home  during  the  closing  years 
of  his  life."  * 

Religious  disputation  must  have  been  the  very 

J  See  however  Gardner's  Al-Ghazali  in  the  "  Islam  Series  " 
(PP.  1-3)  where  we  have  this  note:  "The  district  of  Tus 
contained  four  towns,  Radkan,  Tabaran,  Bazdghur,  and 
Nawqan,  (Yaqut  gives  the  spelling  as  Nuqan)  and  more 
than  1,000  villages.  (See  Yaqut,  quoting  Mis'ar  bin  Muk- 
halhil,  vol.  vi,  p.  7.  Ibn  Khallikan,  vol.  i,  p.  29.  Jackson, 
From  Constantinople  to  the  Home  of  Omar  Khayyam,  p. 
267,  284  ff.)  Of  these  four  towns,  Tabaran  was  the  capital, 
while  Nawqan  was  the  most  populous.  It  was  outside  of 
Nawqan  that  '  AH  bin  Musa  ar-Rida  and  Haroun  Ar-Rashid 
were  buried.  Thus,  the  present  Mashad  represents  the  old' 
Nawqan,  and  must  cover  some  at  least  of  the  site  of  that 
city;  while  the  ruins  now  known  as  Tus  represent  the  old 
city  of  Tabaran,  which,  having  been  the  capital  of  the  dis- 
trict, was  commonly  called  by  the  name  of  the  district.  It 
was  outside  Tabaran  that  Al-Ghazali  and  Firdausi  were 
buried.  It  is  a  mistake  to  regard  Tus  as  having  been  a 
metropolis  containing  four  boroughs.  That  there  ever  ex- 
isted a  city  of  Tus  stretching  thirty-five  miles,  from  Mashad 
to  Radkan,  is  incredible.  As-Sam'ani,  in  the  Kitabu'l-Ansab, 
says  that  Tus  contained  two  towns  and  over  one  thousand 
villages. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  61 

atmosphere  of  Tus.  Christians  were  numerous 
and  the  Moslem  Shiahs  were  almost  as  strong  as 
the  orthodox.  Some  of  their  most  celebrated 
writers  and  scholars,  for  example  Abu  Ja'far 
Muhammed,  were  born  at  Tus ;  and  Ibn  Abi  Hatim, 
one  of  the  earliest  and  most  important  critics  of  the 
science  of  Tradition,  died  at  Tus  in  939.  In  spite 
of  its  learned  men,  however,  Tus  did  not  have  a 
high  reputation,  as  we  know  from  the  following 
anecdote  related  of  Ibn-Habbariyya.  He  was 
asked  by  an  enemy  of  Nizam  Al-Mulk  to  compose 
a  satire  on  this  ruler.  "  How  can  I  attack  a  man 
to  whose  kindness  I  owe  everything  I  see  in  my 
house  ? "  asked  the  poet.  However,  on  being 
pressed,  he  penned  these  lines: 

"  What  wonder  is  it  that  Nizam  Al-Mulk  should  rule, 
And  that  Fate  should  be  on  his  side  ? 
Fortune  is  like  the  water-wheel 
Which  raises  water  from  the  well — 
None  but  oxen  can  turn  it ! " 

When  the  vizier  was  informed  of  this  attack  upon 
him,  he  merely  remarked  that  the  poet  had  simply 
intended  to  allude  to  his  origin — he  came  from  Tus 
in  Khorasan,  and,  according  to  a  popular  saying, 
all  the  men  of  Tus  were  oxen  (one  would  say  asses, 
nowadays). 

"  The  people  of  Khorasan,"  says  Chenery,  "were 
renowned  for  their  stinginess,  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  inhabitants  of  the  mother  town 


62         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

were  said  to  excel  in  it  all  the  rest  of  the  world. 
Witness  the  story,  related  in  Sa'adi's  Gulistan,  if  I 
remember  well,  of  the  merchant  of  Merv,  who 
would  not  allow  his  son  to  eat  cheese,  but  made 
him  rub  his  bread  against  the  glass  cover  under 
which  it  was  kept." 

To  prove  the  stupidity  of  the  Khorasanis  to-day, 
Major  P.  M.  Sykes  *  tells  a  story  of  three  Persians 
who  met  and  were  all  praising  their  own  provinces. 
The  Kermani  said,  "  Kerman  produces  fruit  of 
seven  colours."  The  Shirazi  continued,  "  The 
waters  of  Ruknabad  issue  from  the  very  rock." 
But  the  poor  Khorasani  could  only  say,  "  From 
Khorasan  come  all  the  fools  like  myself." 

Yet  Khorasan,  in  the  words  of  Hujwiri,  was  that 
land  "  where  the  shadow  of  God's  favour  rested," 
as  regards  the  teaching  of  the  Mystics.  He  men- 
tions nine  leading  Sufis  who  belong  to  Khorasan, 
and  taught  there  before  Al-Ghazali's  day,  all  of 
them  distinguished  for  the  "  sublimity  of  their 
aspiration,  the  eloquence  of  their  discourse,  and 
the  sagacity  of  their  intelligence."  He  then  goes 
on  to  say:  "  It  would  be  difficult  to  mention  all  the 
sheikhs  of  Khorasan.  I  have  met  three  hundred 
in  that  province  alone  who  had  such  mystical  en- 
dowments that  a  single  man  of  them  would  have 
been  enough  for  the  whole  world.  This  is  due  to 

1 "  The  Glory  of  the  Shiah  World,"  London,  1910.  In  this 
book  we  have  an  interesting  picture  of  Mashad  and  Tus  as 
they  are  to-day. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  63 

the  fact  that  the  sun  of  love  and  the  fortune  of  the 
Sufi  Path  is  in  the  ascendant  in  Khorasan." 

In  view  of  such  statements  it  is  clear  that  Al- 
Ghazali  owed  much  to  his  environment  as  well  as 
to  his  own  genius.  He  did  not  originate  mysticism, 
but  used  what  his  predecessors  had  already  written 
on  the  subject.  The  very  chapter  headings  of 
Kashf  al-Mahjub  are  the  same  as  those  found  in 
Al-Ghazali's  books  on  mysticism. 

According  to  Murtadha  (who  follows  As-Subqi), 
Al-Ghazali's  full  name  was  Abu  Hamid  Moham- 
med bin  Mohammed  bin  Mohammed  at-Tusi  al- 
Ghazali,  and  he  was  born  at  Tus  in  the  year  of 
the  Hegira  450  (A.  D.  1058).  In  regard  to  his 
name,  it  is  related  that  others  before  him  had  the 
peculiarity  of  the  family  name  three  times  re- 
peated. "  Ibn-Kutaibah  states  that  Abu'1-Bakh- 
tari's  name  was  Wahb  b.  Wahb  b.  Wahb,  the  same 
name  thrice  in  one  continuation;  and  that  similar 
to  this  among  the  names  of  the  Persian  kings  was 
that  of  Bahram  b.  Bahram  b.  Bahram ;  among  the 
Talibis  (the  descendants  of  Abu-Talib)  that  of 
Hasan  b.  Hasan  b.  Hasan,  and  among  the  Ghassan 
that  of  al-Harith  the  junior  b.  al-Harith  and  the 
senior  b.  al-Harith."  3 

Concerning  the  spelling  of  his  name,  whether  it 
should  be  spelled  with  two  z's  or  with  one,  there 
has  been  long  and  strong  dispute.  Professor  Mac- 

1 "  Kashf  al-Mahjub,"  pp.  173-174. 
2 "  Hayat-ul-Hayawan,"  by  Damiri. 


64         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

donald  thinks  the  name  should  be  spelt  Ghazzali 
and  has  given  his  arguments  in  a  special  essay.1 
This  spelling  is  given  by  Ibn  Khallikan  in  his 
biographical  dictionary  (d.  A.  D.  1282).  But  ap- 
parently, according  to  the  authority  of  As-Sam'ani, 
the  name  is  derived  from  Ghazala,  a  village  near 
Tus,  and  is  not  a  professional  noun,  such  as  are 
common  among  patronymics.  Abu  Sa'd  'Abd  al- 
Karim  As-Sam'ani  was  born  only  two  years  after 
Al-Ghazali's  death,  and  wrote  a  famous  book  of 
patronymics  in  eight  volumes.  He  was,  therefore, 
an  expert  in  names  and  genealogies,  and  we  may 
well  accept  his  authority  for  the  spelling  of  the 
name  of  the  great  imam,  who  was  his  own  coun- 
tryman. The  sheikhs  of  the  Azhar  University  in 
Cairo  all  follow  this  authority  and  write  Al~ 
Ghazali? 

1  Referred  to  in  his  "  Life  of  Al-Ghazzali." 

*  Ibn  Khallikan  (Vol.  I,  p.  29,  Cairo,  1310)  leaves  little 
doubt  that  Sama'ani  spells  it  with  one  "z,"  Ghazali.  So 
also  is  the  spelling  of  German  Orientalists  including  Brock- 
elmann.  He  writes  (Vol.  I,  p.  419)  "So,  als  Nisbe  zu 
Gazala,  einem  kleinen  Orte  bei  Tus,  nach  dem  ausdriicklichen 
Zeugnis  des  Sam'anis,  jenes  ausgezeichneten  Kenners 
iranischer  Namen,  (s.  o.  p.  330)  b.  j.  Hall,  nr.  37;  die  von 
Gosche  I,  I,  nr.  3  auf  Grund  spater,  persischer  Quellen 
verteidigte  Schreibung  '  Gazzali '  verdankt  offenbar  einer 
Volksetymologie  ihr  Dasein  in  Anlehnung  an  die  nach  al 
Sam'ani  in  Hwarizm  gebrauchlichen  Nisben,  wie  al  Qassari 
fur  al  Qassar.  Sujuti  den  Gosche  citiert  bestatigt  keines- 
wegs  seine  auffassung,  sondern  gibt  seine  Quelle  als  Sam'ani 
genau  wieder."  Clement  Huart  ("  History  of  Arabic  Litera- 
ture," p.  265)  gives  the  preference  to  Ghazali;  so  do  the 


BIBTHfAND  EDUCATION  65 

Some  say  that  there  had  already  been  two 
scholars  in  the  family,  one  an  elder  Al-Ghazali,  at 
whose  tomb  in  the  cemetery  of  Tus  prayer  was  an- 
swered. This  was  a  paternal  uncle  of  Ghazali's 
father.  The  other  was  a  son  of  the  same.  The 
story  is  told,  apparently  on  the  authority  of  Ghazali 
himself,  that  at  the  time  of  his  father's  death  he 
committed  his  two  boys,  Mohammed  and  Ahmed, 
to  the  care  of  a  trusted  Sufi  friend  for  their  educa- 
tion. He  himself  seems  to  have  had  unfulfilled  de- 
sires in  regard  to  his  own  education  and  was  de- 
termined that  his  boys  should  have  a  better  oppor- 
tunity. So  he  left  in  trust  what  money  he  had  for 
the  purpose  with  this  friend,  who  proved  faithful 
and  taught  and  cared  for  them  until  the  money  was 
all  gone.  Then  he  advised  them  to  go  to  a 
madrasa,  where,  according  to  Moslem  custom,  they 
would  receive  food  for  their  need  and  shelter. 
Ghazali  used  to  tell  the  story  of  this  experience  in 
after  life,  and  would  add  the  remark,  "  We  became 
students  for  the  sake  of  something  else  than  God, 

French  Orientalists  in  the  Revue  du  Monde  Mussulman, 
Goldziher  in  his  latest  work  Vorlesungen  iiber  den  Islam 
(1910),  and  the  well-known  Dutch  Arabist,  Snouck  Hur- 
gronje.  Yet  in  spite  of  all  this  those  who  prefer  "  Ghazzali  " 
may  appeal  to  the  highest  Moslem  authority,  namely,  Mo- 
hammed the  Prophet  who  is  said  to  have  declared  to  some 
one  in  a  dream  that  this  was  the  correct  spelling.  (See 
"Murtadha,"  Vol.  I,  p.  18.)  I  have  a  fatwa  from  the 
Sheikhs  of  Al-Azhar,  Cairo,  however,  stating  that  the  true 
spelling  is  now  agreed  on  by  Moslems  as  Ghazali  with  one 
middle  radical. 


66         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

but  He  was  unwilling  that  it  should  be  for  the  sake 
of  anything  but  Himself."  This  instance  doubt- 
less throws  light  on  the  motives  for  his  studies  and 
his  great  diligence.  At  the  outset  he  was  in  search 
rather  of  reputation  and  wealth  through  learning 
than  of  piety.1 

Of  Al-Ghazali's  home  life  at  Tus,  and  of  his  own 
family  life  afterwards,  we  know  next  to  nothing. 
His  name  Abu  Hamid  was  doubtless  given  him 
much  later,  and  would  seem  to  indicate  that  he  had 
a  son  of  that  name  who  probably  died  in  infancy. 
We  know  that  he  married  before  he  was  twenty 
and  that  at  least  three  daughters  survived  him. 
Of  his  younger  brother,  however,  who  died  fif- 
teen years  after  he  did  (1126),  and  was  buried  at 
Kazvin,  we  know  the  following:  He  succeeded 
Al-Ghazali  in  the  professorial  chair  at  the  Niza- 
miyya  School.  Like  him,  he  was  a  mystic  and 
preached  his  views  with  great  eloquence  as  well  as 
with  a  prolific  pen.  We  are  told  that  he  was  a 
man  of  splendid  appearance,  and  had  the  gift  of 
healing.  So  fond  was  he  of  public  preaching  that 
he  neglected  his  judicial  studies.  He  wrote  an 
abridgement  of  his  brother's  great  work,  and  also 
a  celebrated  treatise  on  mysticism  called  Minhafc 
al-albab  (Path  for  Hearts),  in  which  he  deals 
with  the  advantages  of  poverty,  and  advocates  the 
wearing  of  a  special  garb  by  the  dervishes.  An- 
other of  his  books  was  in  defense  of  music,  called 
1  Macdonald. 


,  BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  67 

Bawariq  al-ilma;  but  this  was  considered  frivolous 
by  strict  Moslems,  although  the  Sufis  used  music 
to  produce  the  state  of  ecstasy. 

Of  Al-Ghazali's  mother  we  know  nothing  be- 
yond the  fact  that  she  survived  her  husband  and 
lived  to  see  both  her  sons  famous  at  Bagdad, 
whither  apparently  she  accompanied  or  followed 
them.  An  interesting  story  is  told  of  how,  when 
Abu  Hamid  was  at  the  height  of  his  fame  at 
Bagdad,  his  brother  Ahmed  not  merely  failed  to 
show  him  proper  respect,  but  acted  in  such  a  man- 
ner as  to  discredit  him  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 
The  full  account  is  worth  giving.  "  He  had  a 
brother  called  Ahmed,  surnamed  Jamal-ud-Din,  or, 
as  others  say,  Zain-ud-Din,  who,  notwithstanding 
the  high  rank  which  his  brother  held,  would  not 
take  part  with  him  in  the  prayers  (i.  e.,  would  not 
recognize  him  as  a  man  fitted  to  lead  the  public 
prayers),  even  while  thousands  of  the  commonalty 
and  nobility  arranged  themselves  in  ranks  behind 
him.  So  he  complained  to  his  mother  what  he  ex- 
perienced at  his  brother's  hands,  (saying)  that  it 
almost  led  to  people  doubting  him,  seeing  that  his 
brother  was  celebrated  for  his  good  conduct  and 
piety,  and  he  asked  his  mother  to  order  him 
(Ahmed)  to  treat  him  as  other  people  did.  He 
complained  about  this  repeatedly,  and  pressed  his 
demand.  His  mother  urged  him  (Ahmed)  time 
and  again  to  agree  to  this,  and  he  agreed  on  con- 
dition that  he  stand  apart  from  the  ranks.  The 


68         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

Imam  accepted  this  condition,  and  when  one  of  the 
appointed  times  of  prayer  arrived,  the  Imam  went 
to  the  Mosque,  and  the  people  followed  him,  till, 
when  the  Imam  began  the  prayer,  and  the  people 
began  it  after  him,  Jamal-ud-Din  followed  him  in 
the  prayer  in  the  distance.  And  while  they  were 
praying  Jamal-ud-Din  suddenly  interrupted  him. 
So  this  trial  was  worse  than  the  first ;  and  when  he 
was  asked  the  reason  (of  his  conduct)  he  replied 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  take  as  his  pat- 
tern an  Imam  whose  heart  was  full  of  blood,  indi- 
cating by  this  expression  the  vileness  of  one  who 
took  a  share  in  the  work  of  worldly  men  of  learn- 
fag."' 

Al-Ghazali  must  have  begun  his  education  at  a 
very  early  age,  and  his  studies  at  Tus  met  with 
such  success  that  he  went  to  the  larger  educational 
centre  of  Jurjan  before  the  age  of  twenty,  a  dis- 
tance of  over  one  hundred  miles,  and  no  inconsider- 
able journey  at  that  time. 

In  Al-Ghazali's  autobiography  we  have  a 
glimpse  of  how  he  himself  conceived  the  growth  of 
a  child  in  wisdom  and  stature.  "  The  first  sense 
revealed  to  man,"  he  says,  "  is  touch,  by  means  of 
which  he  perceives  a  certain  group  of  qualities — 
heat,  cold,  moist,  dry.  The  sense  of  touch  does 
not  perceive  colours  and  forms,  which  are  for  it 
as  though  they  did  not  exist.  Next  comes  the 

'From   the   Biography   given  at  the  end  of   Miskat-ul- 
Anwar,  Cairo  edition  (1322). 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  69 

sense  of  sight,  which  makes  him  acquainted  with 
colours  and  forms ;  that  is  to  say,  with  that  which 
occupies  the  highest  rank  in  the  world  of  sensation. 
The  sense  of  hearing  succeeds,  and  then  the  senses 
of  smell  and  taste.  When  the  human  being 
can  elevate  himself  above  the  world  of  sense, 
towards  the  age  of  seven,  he  receives  the  faculty 
of  discrimination;  he  enters  then  upon  a  new 
phase  of  existence  and  can  experience,  thanks  to 
this  faculty,  impressions,  superior  to  those  of  the 
senses,  which  do  not  occur  in  the  sphere  of  sensa- 
tion." 

Al-Ghazali  must  have  been  an  early  riser  from 
his  youth.  In  his  "  Beginner's  Guide  to  Religion 
and  Morals  "  (Al  Badayet)  he  writes:  "  When  you 
awaken  from  sleep,  endeavour  to  arise  before  early 
dawn,  and  may  the  first  thing  that  enters  your 
heart  and  your  tongue  be  the  remembrance  of  God 
Most  High,  saying,  '  Thanks  be  to  God  who  hath 
given  us  life  after  the  death  of  sleep.  To  Him  do 
we  return.  He  hath  awakened  us  and  awakened 
all  nature.  The  greatness  and  the  power  belong  to 
God ;  the  majesty  and  the  dominion  to  the  Lord  of 
the  worlds.  He  hath  awakened  us  to  the  religion 
of  Islam  and  the  testimony  of  His  unity,  and  the 
religion  of  His  Prophet  Mohammed  and  the  sect 
of  our  father  Abraham,  who  was  a  Hanif  and  a 
Moslem,  and  not  a  polytheist.  O  God,  I  ask  Thee 
that  Thou  wouldst  this  day  send  me  all  good  and 
deliver  me  from  all  evil.  By  Thee,  O  God,  do  we 


70         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

arise  from  sleep,  and  by  Thee  do  we  reach  the  even- 
tide. In  Thee  do  we  live  and  die  and  to  Thee  do 
we  return/  And  when  you  put  on  your  garments, 
remember  that  God  desires  you  to  cover  your 
nakedness  with  them  and  to  show  forth  God's 
beauty  to  those  around  you." 

In  another  place  in  the  same  little  volume  he 
again  inculcates  early  rising  by  saying:  "  Know 
that  the  night  and  the  day  consist  of  twenty-four 
hours.  Let  therefore  your  sleep  during  the  night 
and  day  be  not  more  than  eight  hours ;  for  it  will 
suffice  you  to  think  after  you  have  lived  sixty 
years  that  you  have  lost  twenty  years  of  it  solely 
in  sleep." 

He  probably  began  to  read  even  before  the  age 
of  seven,  for  we  find  that  his  studies  at  Tus,  and 
afterwards  at  Jurjan,  apparently  included  not  only 
religious  science  but  also  a  thorough  knowledge  of 
Persian  and  Arabic.  Of  his  religious  studies  we 
will  speak  later.  He  himself  tells  us  that  the 
philosophical  sciences  taught  included  "  mathe- 
matics, logic,  physics,  metaphysics,  politics,  and 
moral  philosophy."  And  although  he  does  not 
speak  in  his  Confessions  of  his  earliest  studies, 
what  he  says  in  regard  to  mathematics  throws  a 
flood  of  light  on  his  youthful  scepticism.  He  says, 
"  Mathematics  comprises  the  knowledge  of  calcula- 
tion, geometry,  and  cosmography:  it  has  no  con- 
nection with  the  religious  sciences,  and  proves  noth- 
ing for  or  against  religion ;  it  rests  on  a  foundation 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  71 

of  proofs  which,  once  known  and  understood,  can- 
not be  refuted.  Mathematics  tend,  however,  to 
produce  two  bad  results.  The  first  is  this:  Whoever 
studies  this  science  admires  the  subtlety  and  clear- 
ness of  its  proofs.  His  confidence  in  philosophy 
increases,  and  he  thinks  that  all  its  departments 
are  capable  of  the  same  clearness  and  solidity  of 
proofs  as  mathematics.  But  when  he  hears  people 
speak  of  the  unbelief  and  impiety  of  mathema- 
ticians, of  their  professed  disregard  for  the  divine 
Law,  which  is  notorious,  it  is  true  that,  out  of 
regard  for  authority,  he  echoes  these  accusations, 
but  he  says  to  himself  at  the  same  time  that,  if 
there  was  truth  in  religion,  it  would  not  have 
escaped  those  who  have  displayed  so  much  keen- 
ness of  intellect  in  the  study  of  mathematics. 

Next,  when  he  becomes  aware  of  the  unbelief 
and  rejection  of  religion  on  the  part  of  these 
learned  men,  he  concludes  that  to  reject  religion 
is  reasonable.  "  How  many  of  such  men  gone 
astray  I  have  met,  whose  sole  argument  was  that 
just  mentioned!  "  (p.  28). 

Not  only  mathematics  but  astronomy  and  other 
sciences  were  then  in  alleged  conflict  with  the  facts 
of  revelation.  Al-Ghazali  must  have  felt  this  very 
keenly,  for  he  says:  "  The  ignorant  Moslem  thinks 
the  best  way  to  defend  religion  is  by  rejecting  all 
the  exact  sciences.  Accusing  their  professors  of 
being  astray,  he  rejects  their  theories  of  the 
eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  condemns  them 


72         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

in  the  name  of  religion.  These  accusations  are 
carried  far  and  wide,  they  reach  the  ears  of  the 
philosopher  who  knows  that  these  theories  rest  on 
infallible  proofs;  far  from  losing  confidence  in 
them,  he  believes,  on  the  contrary,  that  Islam  has 
ignorance  and  the  denial  of  scientific  proofs  for 
its  basis,  and  his  devotion  to  philosophy  increases 
with  his  hatred  to  religion.  It  is  therefore  a  great 
injury  to  religion  to  suppose  that  the  defense  of 
Islam  involves  the  condemnation  of  the  exact 
sciences.  The  religious  law  contains  nothing  which 
approves  them  or  condemns  them,  and  in  their  turn 
they  make  no  attack  on  religion.  The  words  of 
the  Prophet:  '  The  sun  and  moon  are  two  signs  of 
the  power  of  God;  they  are  not  eclipsed  for  the 
birth  or  the  death  of  any  one ;  when  you  see  these 
signs  take  refuge  in  prayer,  and  invoke  the  name  of 
God  ' — these  words  I  say,  do  not  in  any  way  con- 
demn the  astronomical  calculations  which  define 
the  orbits  of  these  two  bodies,  their  conjunction 
and  opposition  according  to  particular  laws."  M 
We  must  remember  in  this  connection  that  it  was 
Omar  Khayyam,  the  poet  astronomer,  who  at  this 
very  time  was  leading  many  into  scepticism. 

After  a  knowledge  of  Arabic  grammar,  and 
memorizing  the  Koran,  the  diligent  student  would 
take  up  its  critical  and  devotional  study.  Al- 
Ghazali's  teachers  undoubtedly  emphasized,  as  he 

'"The  Confessions  of  Al-Ghazali,"  trans,  by  Claud  Field, 
London,  1909. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  78 

did  himself,  the  importance  of  correct  reading  of 
the  sacred  volume.  In  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
passages  in  his  Ihya,  Al-Ghazali  himself  notes  the 
following  points:  The  reader  must  be  clean  out- 
wardly, and  respect  the  book  with  outward  rever- 
ence. He  must  read  the  proper  quantity.  He 
quotes  with  approval  the  practice  of  Sa'ad  and 
Othman,  that  the  Koran  should  be  read  through 
once  a  week.  One  should  use  chanting  (tar til}, 
for  this  is  helpful  to  the  memory,  and  makes  us 
read  slowly,  and  rapid  reading  is  not  approved. 
One  should  read  it  with  weeping,  i.  e.,  sorrow  for 
sins.  One  should  give  the  proper  responses  in  the 
proper  places.  One  should  use  the  opening  prayer 
before  beginning  to  read.  It  may  be  read  secretly 
or  aloud.  It  must  be  read  beautifully — according 
to  the  Tradition:  "Adorn  the  Koran  by  the  sweet- 
ness of  your  voice; "  or  another  Tradition:  "  He 
who  does  not  sing  the  Koran  is  not  of  our  religion." 
One  day  when  the  Prophet  heard  Abu  Musa  read- 
ing the  Koran  he  said:  "  Verily,  to  this  reader  God 
has  given  the  voice  of  David  when  he  wrote  the 
Psalms." 

We  may  believe  that  Yusuf  Nassaj,  his  first 
teacher,  who  was  a  mystic,  as  well  as,  later,  the 
Imam  al-Haramain,  laid  considerable  emphasis  on 
the  points  here  mentioned.  The  atmosphere  in 
which  Al-Ghazali  was  educated,  we  must  never 
forget,  was  that  of  mysticism. 

The  study  of  the  Koran  was  followed  by  that 


74         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

of  the  Traditions,  of  which  the  standard  collec- 
tions were  already  in  circulation.  After  this,  a 
youth  in  Al-Ghazali's  day  would  begin  the  study 
of  Fiqh,  or  Moslem  jurisprudence.  We  know 
from  the  contents  of  the  standard  works  on  this 
subject,  written  before  Al-Ghazali's  time,  and  later 
by  himself,  what  engrossed  the  attention  in  the 
schools  of  Tus  and  Jurjan.1  His  first  lesson  would 
be  on  ceremonial  purity  by  the  use  of  ablution,  the 
bath,  the  tooth-pick  and  the  various  circumstances 
of  legal  defilement  when  ghasl  or  complete  ablution 
is  prescribed;  of  the  ailments  of  women  and  the 
duration  of  pregnancy.  Then  came  the  second  part 
of  the  book  on  prayer,  its  occasions,  conditions, 
and  requirements,  including  the  four  things  in 
which  the  prayer  of  a  woman  differs  from  that  of 
a  man.  He  would  learn  all  about  the  poor-rate 
(zakat),  about  fasting  and  pilgrimage,  about  the 
laws  of  barter  and  sale  and  debt ;  about  inheritance 
and  wills — a  most  difficult  and  complicated  sub- 
ject. Then  the  pupil  would  pass  on  to  marriage 
and  divorce,  a  very  large  subject,  and  one  on  which 
Moslem  law  books  show  no  reserve,  and  leave  no 
detail  unmentioned.  Then  would  follow  the  laws 
in  regard  to  crime  and  violence,  Holy  War,  and  the 
ritual  of  sacrifice  at  the  Great  Feast.  The  last 
three  chapters  of  books  on  Fiqh  generally  deal  with 
oaths,  evidence,  and  the  manumission  of  slaves.8 

1  Cf .     Appendix  VII  in  Macdonald's  "  Muslim  Theology, 
Jurisprudence  and  Constitutional  Theology." 
8 1  follow  here  the  contents  of  Ghazali's  own  Wajiz. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  75 

From  his  youth  up  Al-Ghazali  belonged  to  the 
Shaft'  School,  one  of  the  four  orthodox  systems  of 
jurisprudence.  The  Imam  ash-Shafii',  whose  tomb 
at  Cairo  was  afterwards  visited  by  Al-Ghazali,  and 
is  still  a  place  of  pilgrimage,  died  in  A.  H.  204  He 
chose  the  via  media  between  the  slavery  of  tradi- 
tion and  the  freedom  of  logic  and  deduction  in 
Moslem  law.  According  to  Macdonald,  "Ash- 
Shafi'i  was  without  question  one  of  the  greatest 
figures  in  the  history  of  law.  Perhaps  he  had  not 
the  originality  and  keenness  of  Abu  Hanifa;  but 
he  had  a  balance  of  mind  and  temper,  a  clear  vision 
and  full  grasp  of  means  and  ends,  that  enabled  him 
to  say  what  proved  to  be  the  last  word  in  the 
matter.  After  him  came  attempts  to  tear  down; 
but  they  failed.  The  fabric  of  the  Muslim  canon 
law  stood  firm."  The  adherents  of  the  school  of 
Shafii'  now  number  some  sixty  million  persons,  of 
whom  about  a  half  are  in  the  Netherland  Indies, 
and  the  rest  in  Egypt,  Syria,  Hadramaut,  Southern 
India,  and  Malaysia.  Among  all  of  these  Al- 
Ghazali  the  Shafi'ite  naturally  holds  a  place  of  su- 
preme honour. 

An  interesting  story  is  told  in  connection  with 
his  studies  under  the  Imam  Abu  Nasr  al-Isma'ili. 
He  took  copious  notes  under  this  celebrated 
teacher,  but  neglected  to  memorize  what  he  had 
written.  This  seems  to  have  been  a  characteristic 
of  his,  according  to  Macdonald,  because  his  quota- 
tions are  often  exceedingly  careless;  and  one  of 


76         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

the  charges  brought  against  him  by  his  assailants 
afterwards  was  that  he  falsified  tradition.  "  On  his 
way  back  to  Tus  from  Jurjan,  however,  he  got  his 
lesson.  He  tells  the  story  himself.  Robbers  fell 
upon  him,  stripped  him,  and  even  carried  off  the 
bag  with  his  manuscripts.  This  was  more  than  he 
could  stand;  he  ran  after  them,  clung  to  them 
though  threatened  with  death,  and  entreated  the 
return  of  the  notes — they  were  of  no  use  to  them. 
Al-Ghazali  had  a  certain  quality  of  dry  humour, 
and  was  evidently  tickled  by  the  idea  of  these 
thieves  studying  law.  The  robber  chief  asked  him 
what  were  these  notes  of  his.  Said  Al-Ghazali 
with  great  simplicity:  'They  are  writings  in  that 
bag;  I  travelled  for  the  sake  of  hearing  them  and 
writing  them  down,  and  knowing  the  science  in 
them/  Thereat  the  robber  chief  laughed  con- 
sumedly,  and  said:  '  How  can  you  profess  to  know 
the  science  in  them,  when  we  have  taken  them  from 
you  and  stripped  you  of  the  knowledge,  and  there 
you  are  without  any  science  ? '  But  he  gave  them 
him  back.  'And/  says  Al-Ghazali,  'this  man 
was  sent  by  God  to  teach  me/  So  Al-Ghazali 
went  back  to  Tus,  and  spent  three  years  there  com- 
mitting his  notes  to  memory  as  a  precaution  against 
future  robbers/' 

Shortly  afterwards  Al-Ghazali  left  Tus  a  second 
time  to  pursue  his  studies  at  Nishapur  under  the 

1 D.  B.  Macdonald,  "  Life  of  Al-Ghazzali,"  Journal  of  the 
American  Oriental  Society,  Vol.  XX,  p.  76. 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  77 

most  celebrated  teacher  of  that  period  in  this  great 
literary  centre.  Nishapur  was  situated  forty-nine 
miles  west  of  Tus,  and  was  captured  by  the  Arabs 
in  A.  H.  31.  Yakut,  in  his  geographical  dictionary, 
says  that  of  all  the  cities  he  had  visited  this  was  the 
finest.  It  was  in  this  city  that  Hamadhani  wrote 
his  four-hundred  Maqamat  and  vanquished  his 
great  literary  rival. 

Other  great  names  are  connected  with  the  city, 
among  them  Omar  Khayyam  the  poet,  the  Koran 
commentator  Ahmed  al-Tha'labi,  and  Maidani  the 
author  of  the  well-known  collection  of  Arabic 
proverbs. 

The  older  name  of  the  town  or  district  was 
Abrashahr.  The  importance  of  the  place  under 
the  Sasanians  was  in  part  religious;  one  of  the 
three  holiest  fire  temples  was  in  its  neighbourhood. 
Nishapur  under  the  Moslems  contained  a  large  Arab 
element;  it  became  the  capital  of  Khorasan,  and 
greatly  increased  in  prosperity,  under  the  almost 
independent  princes  of  the  house  of  Tahir  (A.  D. 
820-873).  Istakhri  describes  it  as  a  well-fortified 
town,  a  league  square,  with  a  great  export  of  cotton 
goods  and  raw  silk.  In  the  decline  of  the  empire 
the  city  had  much  to  suffer  from  the  Turkomans, 
whose  raids  have  in  modern  times  destroyed  the 
prosperity  of  this  whole  region.  In  1153  it  was 
utterly  ruined  by  the  Ghuzz  Turkomans,  but  soon 
rose  again,  because,  as  Yakut  remarks,  its  position 
jjave  it  command  of  the  entire  caravan  trade  with 


78         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

the  East.  It  was  taken  and  razed  to  the  ground  by 
Mongols  in  1221,  but  a  century  later  Ibn  Batuta 
found  the  city  again  flourishing,  with  four  col- 
leges, numerous  students,  and  an  export  of  silk- 
stuffs  to  India.  Nishapur  was  famous  for  its  fruits 
and  gardens  which  gave  it,  the  epithet  of  "  little 
Damascus." 

We  have  an  interesting  portrait  of  Al-Ghazali's 
chief  teacher  while  he  was  at  Nishapur, — Abul- 
Ma'ali  'Abdal-Malik  Al-Juwaini  Imam  al-Hara- 
main.  He  was  born  at  Bushtaniqan,  near  Nishapur, 
on  the  twelfth  of  February,  1028,  and  was  one  of 
the  most  learned  and  celebrated  teachers  of  Mos- 
lem law  in  his  day.  "  On  the  death  of  his  father, 
Abu  Muhammed  'Abdallah  ibn  Yusuf,  who  was  a 
teacher  in  the  latter  town,  he  took  his  place,  though 
barely  twenty  years  of  age."  But  this  was  a  time 
of  literary  prodigies  due  to  precocious  talent  and 
prodigious  power  of  memory.  "  To  complete  his 
own  studies,  and  to  make  the  sacred  pilgrimage,  he 
went  to  Bagdad  and  thence  to  the  two  holy  cities, 
Mecca  and  Medina,  where  he  taught  for  four 
years;  hence  his  surname,  which  signifies  'the 
teacher  of  the  two  holy  places.'  When  he  returned 
to  Nishapur,  Nizam  Al-Mulk  founded  a  school  for 
him,  in  which  he  gave  courses  of  lessons  till  his 
death,  which  overtook  him  on  the  twentieth  of 
August,  1085,  while  on  a  visit  to  his  native  village, 
whither  he  had  gone  in  the  hope  of  recovering 
from  an  illness.  Along  with  his  professorial 


BIETH  AND  EDUCATION  79 

duties,  he  had  discharged  those  of  a  preacher.  At 
Nishapur  he  held  gatherings  every  Friday,  at  which 
he  preached  sermons,  and  presided  over  discus- 
sions on  various  doctrinal  points:  to  these  occupa- 
tions he  added  that  of  managing  the  waqfs,  or 
landed  property  devoted  to  the  support  of  pious 
undertakings.  For  more  than  thirty  years  he  con- 
tinued in  undisputed  possession  of  these  various 
posts.  When  he  died,  the  mourning  was  general; 
the  great  pulpit  of  the  Mosque  from  which  he  had 
delivered  his  sermons  was  broken  up,  and  his 
pupils,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred  and  one,  des- 
troyed their  pens  and  ink-horns,  and  gave  up  their 
studies  for  a  year."  It  is  certain  that  Al-Ghazali 
sat  at  his  feet  as  a  learner,  both  at  Nishapur  and 
Bagdad,  and  we  may  imagine  that  he  had  a  part 
also  in  the  general  mourning  at  the  death  of  the 
Imam,  the  manuscript  of  whose  masterpiece, 
Nihayat  al-Matldb  (Finality  of  Inquiry),  is  still 
preserved  in  Cairo  in  the  Sultania  Library. 

At  Nishapur,  Al-Ghazali  was  one  of  the  favourite 
pupils  of  this  Imam,  and  here  his  studies  were  of 
the  broadest,  embracing  theology,  dialectics, 
philosophy  and  logic.  He  was  a  teacher  as  well 
as  a  student,  for  we  are  told  that  he  would  "  read  to 
his  fellow  students  and  teach  them,  until  in  a  short 
time  he  became  infirm  and  weak."  Under  the 
double  task  his  health  failed,  but  he  did  not  give 
up  his  studies.  The  Imam  once  said  of  him,  and 
*Huart,  "Arabic  Literature." 


80         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

two  other  notable  pupils:  "Al-Ghazali  is  a  sea  to 
drown  in,  Al-Kiya  is  a  tearing  lion,  and  Al- 
Khawafi  is  a  burning  fire."  Another  saying  of 
his  about  the  same  three  was:  "Whenever  they 
contend  together,  the  proof  belongs  to  Al-Khawafi, 
the  warlike  attacks  to  Al-Ghazali,  and  clearness  to 
Al-Kiya."  To  this  time  of  his  life  belongs  the 
remark  also,  made  by  some  one  unnamed,  "The 
youth  Al-Ghazali  showed  externally  a  vain-glori- 
ous disposition,  but  underneath  there  was  some- 
thing that  when  it  did  appear  showed  graceful  ex- 
pression and  delicate  allusion,  soundness  of  at- 
tention, and  strength  of  character/' 

"  I  cannot  ascertain,"  says  Macdonald  in  speak- 
ing of  this  period  of  Al-Ghazali's  life,  "  whether 
while  he  was  still  at  Nishapur  he  touched  those 
depths  of  scepticism  of  which  he  speaks  in  the 
Munqidh.  They  must  certainly  have  been 
reached  some  time  before  the  year  A.  H.  484,  and 
must  have  been  the  outcome  of  a  long  drift  of  de- 
velopment; but  probably  so  long  as  he  was  under 
the  influence  of  the  Imam-al-Haramain  a  devout 
Sufi,  he  would  be  held  more  or  less  fast  to  the  old 
faith." 

Of  these  struggles  of  his  soul  in  an  age  of  doubt 
and  how  he  found  relief  the  next  chapter  will 
tell  us. 


Ill 

Teaching,  Conversion,  and  Retirement 


"Al-Ghazali  is  one  of  the  deepest  thinkers,  greatest 
theologians  and  profoundest  moralists  of  Islam.  In 
all  Muhamadan  lands  he  is  celebrated  both  as  an 
apologist  of  orthodoxy  and  a  warm  advocate  of  Sufi 
mysticism.  Intimately  acquainted  with  all  the  learn- 
ing of  his  time,  he  was  not  only  one  of  the  numerous 
Oriental  philosophers  who  traverse  every  sphere  of 
intellectual  activity,  but  one  of  those  rarer  minds 
whose  originality  is  not  crushed  by  their  learning. 
He  was  imbued  with  a  sacred  enthusiasm  for  the 
triumph  of  his  faith,  and  his  whole  life  was  dedicated 
to  one  purpose,  the  defense  of  Islam." 

— "  Mystics  and  Saints  of  Islam/9  Claud  Field. 


Ill 

TEACHING,  CONVERSION,  AND 
RETIREMENT 

WITH  the  death  of  the  Imam  in  A.  H.  478 
a  great  change  came  into  the  life  of 
Al-Ghazali.     He  left  Nishapur  to  seek 
his  fortune  and  it  brought  him  to  the  camp  court 
of  the  great  Vizier  Nizam  Al-Mulk.       Here  Al- 
Ghazali  sought  advancement  and  the  honours  of 
learning. 

The  camp  court  was  the  travelling  capital  of  the 
Seljuk  Sultans.  This  imperial  camp  was  laid  out 
into  squares  and  streets.  We  read  how  in  a  few 
hours  a  city,  as  if  built  by  enchantment,  would  rise 
on  the  uninhabited  plain.  The  camp  exhibited  a 
motley  collection  of  tents  and  dwellings  and  palm- 
leaf  huts.  The  only  regular  part  of  the  encamp- 
ment were  the  streets  of  shops,  each  of  which  was 
constructed  in  the  manner  of  a  booth  at  an  English 
fair.  Moore  gives  us  the  picture  in  these  words : 

"  Whose  are  the  gilded  tents  that  crowd  the  way, 
Where  all  was  waste  and  silent  yesterday? 
This  City  of  War,  which,  in  a  few  short  hours, 
Hath  sprung  up  here,  as  if  the  magic  powers 


84         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Of  him  who,  in  the  twinkling  of  a  star, 
Built  the  high  pillar'd  halls  of  Chilminar, 
Had  conjured  up,  far  as  the  eye  can  see, 
This  world  of  tents  and  domes  and  sun-bright 

armoury. — 

Princely  pavilions,  screened  by  many  a  fold 
Of  crimson  cloth,  and  topp'd  with  balls  of  gold ; — 
Steeds,  with  their  housings  of  rich  silver  spun, 
And  camels,  tufted  o'er  with  Yemen's  shells, 
Shaking  in  every  breeze  their  light-toned  bells."  * 

As  for  Nizam  Al-Mulk  we  have  an  interesting 
autobiography  which  he  wrote  and  left  as  a  memo- 
rial for  future  statesmen.  (It  is  quoted  in  Mirk- 
hond's  "History  of  the  Assassins/')  "One  of 
the  greatest  of  the  wise  men  of  Khorasan,"  says 
he,  "  was  the  Imam  Mowaffak  of  Nishapur,  a  man 
highly  honoured  and  reverenced, — may  God  re- 
joice his  soul ;  his  illustrious  years  exceeded  eighty- 
five,  and  it  was  the  universal  belief  that  every  boy 
who  read  the  Koran  or  studied  the  traditions  in 
his  presence  would  assuredly  attain  to  honour  and 
happiness.  For  this  cause  did  my  father  send  me 
from  Tus  to  Nishapur  with  Abd-us-Samad,  the 
doctor  of  law,  that  I  might  employ  myself  in  study 
and  learning  under  the  guidance  of  that  illustrious 
teacher.  Towards  me  he  ever  turned  an  eye  of 
favour  and  kindness,  and  as  his  pupil  I  felt  for  him 
extreme  affection  and  devotion,  so  that  I  passed 
four  years  in  his  service.  When  I  first  came  there, 

Rookh." 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION  85 

I  found  two  other  pupils  of  mine  own  age  newly 
arrived — Hakim  Omar  Khayyam,  and  the  ill-fated 
Ibn  Sabbah,  founder  of  the  sect  of  the  Assassins. 
Both  were  endowed  with  sharpness  of  wit  and  the 
highest  natural  powers;  and  we  three  formed  a 
close  friendship  together.  When  the  Imam  rose 
from  his  lectures,  they  used  to  join  me,  and  we 
repeated  to  each  other  the  lessons  we  had  heard. 
Now  Omar  was  a  native  of  Nishapur,  while  Hasan 
Ibn  Sabbah's  father  was  one  Ali,  a  man  of  austere 
life  and  practice  but  heretical  in  his  creed  and  doc- 
trine. One  day  Hasan  said  to  me  and  to  Khay- 
yam: '  It  is  a  universal  belief  that  the  pupils  of  the 
Imam  Mowaffak  will  attain  to  fortune.  Now,  even 
if  we  all  do  not  attain  thereto,  without  doubt  one  of 
us  will ;  what  then  shall  be  our  mutual  pledge  and 
bond?'  We  answered:  'Be  it  what  you  please/ 
'Well/  he  said,  'let  us  make  a  vow,  that  to 
whomsoever  this  fortune  falls,  he  shall  share  it 
equally  with  the  rest,  and  reserve  no  preeminence 
for  himself.'  '  Be  it  so/  we  both  replied,  and  on 
these  terms  we  mutually  pledged  our  words.  Years 
rolled  on,  and  I  went  from  Khorasan  to  Trans- 
oxiana,  and  wandered  to  Ghazni  and  Kabul;  and 
when  I  returned  I  was  invested  with  office,  and  rose 
to  be  administrator  of  affairs  during  the  Sultanate 
of  Sultan  Alp  Arslan." 

After  his  education  at  Nishapur  Nizam  Al-Mulk 
served  Alp  Arslan,  the  successor  of  Togrul  Bey, 
and  for  more  than  twenty  years  the  burden  of  the 


86         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

empire  of  the  Seljuks  rested  on  his  shoulders. 
When  Alp  Arslan  died  in  465  Malek  Shah  suc- 
ceeded him  and  from  that  time  until  his  assassina- 
tion, on  the  tenth  of  Ramadan,  485,  Nizam  Al- 
Mulk  was  the  greatest  man  in  the  empire  and  its 
real  ruler.  He  was  a  friend  of  learning  and 
letters  and  established  colleges  in  many  centres. 

In  A.  H.  484,  Al-Ghazali  gained  high  fame  at 
court  and  was  appointed  by  Nizam  Al-Mulk  to 
teach  in  the  Madrasa  at  Bagdad,  the  capital  of  the 
whole  of  Eastern  Islam. 

We  have  an  interesting  picture  of  the  city  of 
Bagdad  about  this  time  from  the  pen  of  Rabbi 
Benjamin,  of  Tudela,  who  visited  the  city  some 
years  after  Al-Ghazali's  death  (1160).  He  says: 
"  The  circumference  of  the  city  of  Bagdad  meas- 
ures three  miles ;  the  country  in  which  it  is  situated 
is  rich  in  palm-trees,  gardens  and  orchards,  so  that 
nothing  equals  it  in  Mesopotamia;  merchants  of 
all  countries  resort  thither  for  purposes  of  trade, 
and  it  contains  many  wise  philosophers  well  skilled 
in  sciences,  and  magicians  proficient  in  all  sorts 
of  witchcraft.  The  palace  of  the  Caliph  at  Bag- 
dad is  three  miles  in  extent.  It  contains  a  large 
park  of  all  sorts  of  trees,  both  useful  and  orna- 
mental, and  all  sorts  of  beasts,  as  well  as  a  pond  of 
water  led  thither  from  the  river  Tigris ;  and  when- 
ever the  Caliph  desires  to  enjoy  himself  and  to 
sport  and  to  carouse,  birds,  beasts  and  fishes  are 
prepared  for  him  and  for  his  councillors,  whom 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEBSION  87 

he  invites  to  his  palace."  He  gives  us  a  glimpse  of 
what  went  on  behind  the  walls  of  these  royal 
palaces  when  he  says :  "  All  the  brothers  and  other 
members  of  the  Caliph's  family  are  accustomed  to 
kiss  his  garments,  and  every  one  of  them  possesses 
a  palace  within  that  of  the  Caliph;  but  they  are  all 
fettered  by  chains  of  iron,  and  a  special  officer  is 
appointed  over  every  household  to  prevent  their 
rising  in  rebellion  against  the  great  king.  These 
measures  are  enacted  in  consequence  of  an  occur- 
rence which  took  place  some  time  ago,  and  upon 
which  occasion  the  brothers  rebelled  and  elected  a 
king  among  themselves.  To  prevent  this  in  future, 
it  was  decreed  that  all  the  members  of  the  Caliph's 
family  should  be  chained,  in  order  to  prevent  their 
rebellious  intentions.  Every  one  of  them,  how- 
ever, resides  in  his  palace,  is  there  much  honoured, 
and  they  possess  villages  and  towns,  the  rents  of 
which  are  collected  for  them  by  their  stewards; 
they  eat  and  drink,  and  lead  a  merry  life. 

"  The  palace  of  the  great  king  contains  large 
buildings,  pillars  of  gold  and  silver,  and  treasures 
of  precious  stones.  The  Caliph  leaves  his  palace 
but  once  every  year,  viz.,  at  the  time  of  the  feast 
called  Ramadan.  Upon  this  occasion  many  vis- 
itors assemble  from  distant  parts,  in  order  to  have 
an  opportunity  of  beholding  his  countenance.  He 
then  bestrides  the  royal  mule,  dressed  in  kingly 
robes,  which  are  composed  of  gold  and  silver  cloth. 
On  his  head  he  wears  a  turban,  ornamented  with 


88         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

precious  stones  of  inestimable  value;  but  over  this 
turban  is  thrown  a  black  veil,  as  a  sign  of  humility, 
and  as  much  as  to  say:  '  See,  all  this  worldly 
honour  will  be  converted  into  darkness  on  the  day 
of  death.'  He  is  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
retinue  of  Mohammedan  nobles,  arrayed  in  rich 
dresses,  and  riding  upon  horses ;  princes  of  Arabia, 
of  Media,  of  Persia,  and  even  of  Thibet,  a  country 
distant  three  months1  journey  from  Arabia.  This 
procession  goes  from  the  Palace  to  the  Mosque  at 
the  Basra  gate,  which  is  the  Metropolitan  Mosque. 
All  those  who  walk  in  procession  are  dressed  in 
silk  and  purple,  both  men  and  women.  The  streets 
and  squares  are  enlivened  by  singing,  rejoicings, 
and  by  parties  who  dance  before  the  great  king, 
called  Caliph.  He  is  loudly  saluted  by  the  as- 
sembled crowd,  who  cry,  'Blessed  art  thou,  our 
lord  and  king/  He  thereupon  kisses  his  garment, 
and  by  holding  it  in  his  hand,  acknowledges  and 
returns  the  compliment.  The  procession  moves  on 
into  the  court  of  the  Mosque,  where  the  Caliph 
mounts  a  wooden  pulpit,  and  expounds  their  law 
unto  them.  The  learned  Mohammedans  rise,  pray 
for  him,  and  praise  his  great  kindness  and  piety; 
upon  which  the  whole  assembly  answer,  'Amen/ 
He  then  pronounces  his  blessing  and  kills  a  camel, 
which  is  led  thither  for  that  purpose,  and  this  is 
their  offering,  which  is  distributed  to  the  nobles. 
These  send  portions  of  it  to  their  friends,  who  are 
eager  to  taste  of  the  meat  killed  by  the  hands  of 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEKSION  89 

their  holy  king,  and  are  much  rejoiced  therewith. 
He  then  leaves  the  Mosque,  and  returns  alone  to 
his  Palace  along  the  banks  of  the  Tigris,  the  noble 
Mohammedans  accompanying  him  in  boats  until  he 
enters  his  buildings.  He  never  returns  by  the  way 
he  came,  and  the  path  on  the  bank  of  the  river  is 
carefully  guarded  all  the  year  around,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent any  one  treading  in  his  footsteps.  The  Caliph 
never  leaves  his  palace  again  for  a  whole  year. 

"  He  is  a  pious  and  benevolent  man,  and  has 
erected  buildings  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  on 
the  banks  of  an  arm  of  the  Euphrates  which  runs 
on  one  side  of  the  city.  These  buildings  include 
many  large  houses,  streets,  and  hostelries  for  the 
sick  poor,  who  resort  thither  in  order  to  be  cured. 
There  are  about  sixty  medical  warehouses  here, 
all  well  provided  from  the  king's  stores  with  spices 
and  other  necessaries ;  and  every  patient  who  claims 
assistance  is  fed  at  the  king's  expense  until  his  cure 
is  completed.  There  is  further  the  large  building 
called  Dar-ul-Marastan  (the  abode  of  the  insane), 
in  which  are  locked  up  all  those  insane  persons  who 
are  met  with,  particularly  during  the  hot  season, 
every  one  of  whom  is  secured  by  iron  chains  until 
his  reason  returns,  when  he  is  allowed  to  return 
to  his  home." 

We  may  add  what  the  poet,  Al-Hamadhani,  a 
contemporary,  tells  us  of  the  luxuries  of  the  table 
at  Bagdad:  "We  found  ourselves  among  a  com- 
pany who  were  passing  their  time  amid  bunches  of 


90         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

myrtle  twigs,  and  bouquets  of  roses,  broached  wine 
vats  and  the  sound  of  the  flute  and  the  lute.  We 
approached  them  and  they  advanced  to  receive  us. 
Then  we  clave  to  a  table  whose  vessels  were  filled, 
whose  gardens  were  in  flower,  and  whose  dishes 
were  arranged  in  rows  with  viands  of  various  hues ; 
opposite  a  dish  of  something  intensely  black  was 
something  exceedingly  white,  and  against  some- 
thing very  red  was  arranged  something  very  yel- 
low." And  in  another  place:  "  I  was  in  Bagdad  in 
a  famine  year,  and  so  I  approached  a  company, 
united  like  the  Pleiades,  in  order  to  ask  something 
of  them.  Now  there  was  among  them  a  youth 
with  a  lisp  in  his  tongue  and  a  space  between  his 
front  teeth.  He  asked:  'What  is  thy  affair?' 
I  replied:  'Two  conditions  in  which  a  man  pros- 
pers not:  that  of  a  beggar  harassed  by  hunger,  and 
that  of  an  exile  to  whom  return  is  impossible/ 
The  boy  then  said:  'Which  of  the  two  breaches 
dost  thou  wish  stopped  first?'  I  answered: 
'  Hunger,  for  it  has  become  extreme  with  me.' 
He  said :  '  What  sayest  thou  to  a  white  cake  on  a 
clean  table,  picked  herbs  with  very  sour  vinegar, 
fine  date  wine  with  pungent  mustard,  roast  meat 
ranged  on  a  skewer  with  a  little  salt,  placed  now 
before  thee  by  one  who  will  not  put  thee  off  with 
a  promise  nor  torture  thee  with  delay,  and  who  will 
afterwards  follow  it  up  with  golden  goblets  of  the 
juice  of  grape?  Is  that  preferable  to  thee,  or  a 
large  company,  full  cups,  variety  of  dessert,  spread 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEKSION  91 

carpets,  brilliant  lights,  and  a  skilful  minstrel  with 
the  eye  and  neck  of  a  gazelle  ? '  " 

From  all  this  we  can  imagine  what  Al-Ghazali 
enjoyed  when  he  went  to  dine  with  the  Nizam  Al- 
Mulk  or  other  men  of  wealth  and  there  was  no 
famine  in  Bagdad ! 

The  Nizamiyya  College  which  Al-Ghazali  at- 
tended and  in  which  he  was  one  of  the  leading 
lecturers  at  two  periods  of  his  life,  was  built  on 
the  eastern  river  bank  of  the  Tigris,  near  the 
Bridge  of  Boats  and  close  to  the  wharf  and  the 
large  market-place.  The  college  was  founded  in 
A.  D.  1065,  being  especially  established  for  the 
teaching  of  Shafi'ite  law.  Close  to  the  college  was 
another  college  called  the  Bahaiyah  and  the  hos- 
pital Maristan  Tutushi. 

The  traveller,  Ibn  Jubayr,  attended  prayers  in 
the  Nizamiyya  on  the  first  Friday  after  his  arrival 
in  Bagdad,  in  the  year  581  (A.  D.  1185),  and  he 
describes  it  as  the  most  splendid  of  the  thirty  and 
odd  colleges  which  then  adorned  the  City  of  East 
Bagdad.  .  .  .  Ibn  Jubayr  further  reports  that 
in  his  day  the  endowments  derived  from  domains 
and  rents  belonging  to  the  college  amply  sufficed 
both  to  pay  the  stipends  of  professors  and  to  keep 
the  building  in  good  order,  besides  supplying  an 
extra  fund  for  the  sustenance  of  poor  scholars. 
The  Suk,  or  market  of  the  Nizamiyya,  was  one  of 
the  great  thoroughfares  of  this  quarter,  and  it  is 
described  as  lying  adjacent  to  the  te  Mashra'ah  "  or 


92         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

wharf,  which  proves  that  the  college  must  have 
stood  near  the  Tigris  bank.1  .  .  .  Writing  a 
dozen  years  later  than  Ibn  Batuta,  Hamd-Allah, 
the  Persian  historian,  briefly  alludes  to  the 
Nizamiyya,  which  he  calls  "the  mother  of  the 
Madrasahs  "  in  Bagdad.  This  proves  that  down  to 
the  middle  of  the  fourteenth  century  A.  D.  the  col- 
lege was  still  standing,  though  at  the  present  time 
all  vestiges  of  it  have  disappeared,  as  indeed  appears 
already  to  have  been  the  case  in  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  for  Niebuhr  found  no  traces  of  the 
Nizamiyya  to  describe  in  his  painstaking  account 
of  the  ruins  in  the  city  of  Caliphs,  as  these  still  ex- 
isted in  the  time  of  his  visit. 

It  was  here,  at  the  Nizamiyya  School,  that  Al- 
Ghazali  first  embarked  on  his  career  as  an  inde- 
pendent teacher.  His  lectures  drew  crowds.  He 
gave  fatzvas,  or  legal  opinions,  on  matters  of  the 
law,2  he  wrote  books,  he  preached  in  the  mosque, 
and  was  a  leader  of  the'  people.  Then  suddenly  in 
the  midst  of  all  this  prosperity  a  great  change  came 
over  him.  He  seemed  to  be  attacked  by  a  myste- 
rious disease.  His  speech  became  hampered,  his 
appetite  failed,  and  his  physicians  said  the  malady 
was  due  to  mental  unrest.  He  suddenly  left  Bag- 
dad in  the  month  of  Dhu-1-Qada,  488,  appointed 
his  brother  Ahmed  to  teach  in  his  place,  and  aban- 


1  " 


Baghdad  under  the  Abbasside  Caliphate,"  G.  I*e  Strange, 
Oxford,  1900,  p.  298. 
2  Several  of  these  are  given  at  length  by  Murtadha. 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION  93 

doned  all  his  property,  except  so  much  as  was  nec- 
essary for  his  own  support  and  that  of  his  children. 

This  sudden  retirement  from  active  life  and  aca- 
demic honour  was  unintelligible  to  the  theologians 
cf  his  days.  They  looked  upon  it  as  a  calamity  for 
Islam.  Some  interpreted  it  as  fear  of  the  Govern- 
ment, a  flight  from  responsibility,  but  the  real  rea- 
son of  his  renunciation  he  himself  tells  us  in  his 
"  Confessions."  This  book  reveals  the  story  of 
his  spiritual  experiences  from  his  youth  up  to  his 
fiftieth  year. 

He  says:  "  Know  then,  my  brother  (may  God 
direct  you  in  the  right  way),  that  the  diversity  in 
beliefs  and  religions,  and  the  variety  of  doctrines 
and  sects  which  divide  men,  are  like  a  deep  ocean 
strewn  with  shipwrecks,  from  which  very  few  es- 
cape safe  and  sound.  Each  sect,  it  is  true,  believes 
itself  in  possession  of  the  truth  and  of  salvation; 
'  each  party,'  as  the  Koran  saith,  '  rejoices  in  its 
own  creed ' ;  but  as  the  chief  of  apostles,  whose 
word  is  always  truthful,  has  told  us,  '  My  people 
will  be  divided  into  more  than  seventy  sects  of 
whom  only  one  will  be  saved.'  This  prediction, 
like  all  others  of  the  Prophet,  must  be  fulfilled. 

"  From  the  period  of  adolescence,  that  is  to  say, 
previous  to  reaching  my  twentieth  year  to  the 
present  time  when  I  have  passed  my  fiftieth,  I  have 
ventured  into  this  vast  ocean;  I  have  interrogated 
the  beliefs  of  each  sect  and  scrutinized  the  mys- 
teries of  each  doctrine,  in  order  to  disentangle  truth 


94         A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  APTEE  GOD 

from  error  and  orthodoxy  from  heresy.  I  have 
never  met  one  who  maintained  the  hidden  meaning 
of  the  Koran  without  investigating  the  nature  of 
his  belief,  nor  a  partisan  of  its  exterior  sense  with- 
out inquiring  into  the  results  of  his  doctrine. 
There  is  no  philosopher  whose  system  I  have  not 
fathomed,  nor  theologian  the  intricacies  of  whose 
doctrine  I  have  not  followed  out. 

"  Sufism  has  no  secrets  into  which  I  have  not 
penetrated ;  the  devout  adorer  of  Deity  has  revealed 
to  me  the  aim  of  his  austerities ;  the  atheist  has  not 
been  able  to  conceal  from  me  the  real  reason  of  his 
unbelief.  The  thirst  for  knowledge  was  innate  in 
me  from  my  early  age ;  it  was  like  a  second  nature 
implanted  by  God,  without  any  will  on  my  part. 
No  sooner  had  I  emerged  from  boyhood  than  I  had 
already  broken  the  fetters  of  tradition  and  freed 
myself  from  hereditary  beliefs. 

"  Having  noticed  how  easily  the  children  of 
Christians  become  Christians,  and  the  children  of 
Moslems  embrace  Islam,  and  remembering  also  the 
traditional  saying  ascribed  to  the  Prophet:  '  Every 
child  has  in  him  the  germ  of  Islam,  then  his  par- 
ents make  him  Jew,  Christian,  or  Zoroastrian/  I 
was  moved  by  a  keen  desire  to  learn  what  was  this 
innate  disposition  in  the  child,  the  nature  of  the 
accidental  beliefs  imposed  on  him  by  the  authority 
of  his  parents  and  his  masters,  and  finally  the  un- 
reasoned convictions  which  he  derives  from  their 
instructions." 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEBSION  95 

Again  he  is  full  of  doubts  when  he  says :  "  Per- 
haps also  Death  is  that  state  [he  is  speaking  of  a 
possible  state  of  being  which  will  bear  the  same 
relation  to  our  present  state  as  this  does  to  the  con- 
dition when  asleep],  according  to  a  saying  of  the 
Prince  of  Prophets:  '  Men  are  asleep;  when  they 
die,  they  wake.'  Our  present  life  in  relation  to  the 
future  is  perhaps  only  a  dream,  and  man,  once 
dead,  will  see  things  in  direct  opposition  to  those 
now  before  his  eyes. 

"  Such  thoughts  as  these  threatened  to  shake  my 
reason,  and  I  sought  to  find  an  escape  from  them. 
But  how  ?  In  order  to  disentangle  the  knot  of  this 
difficulty,  a  proof  was  necessary.  Now  a  proof 
must  be  based  on  primary  assumptions,  and  it  was 
precisely  these  of  which  I  was  in  doubt.  This  un- 
happy state  lasted  about  two  months,  during  which 
I  was  not,  it  is  true,  explicitly  or  by  profession,  but 
morally  and  essentially  a  thoroughgoing  sceptic." 

That  Al-Ghazali  was  driven  to  scepticism  must 
not  surprise  us.  Schools  of  free  thinkers  had  been 
established  fifty  years  earlier  at  Bagdad  and  Bus- 
rah.  Every  Friday  they  gathered  together.  Some 
were  rationalists,  some  downright  materialists. 
Not  only  philosophers  but  poets  were  the  leaders  of 
these  circles.  Among  them  we_  must  mention 
Abu'l  'Ala  Al-Ma'arri,  born  in  973  A.  D.  This  blind 
poet  is  said  to  have  written  a  Koran  in  imitation 
of  Mohammed,  and  when  some  one  complained  to 
him  that  although  the  book  was  well  written  it  did 


96         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

not  make  the  same  impression  as  the  true  Koran, 
he  replied:  "  Let  it  be  read  from  the  pulpit  of  the 
mosques  for  four  hundred  years  and  then  you  will 
all  be  delighted  with  it."  His  quatrains  rival  those 
of  Omar  Al-Kayyam  in  their  utter  pessimism  and 
rank  infidelity  from  the  orthodox  Moslem  stand- 
point. For  example,  he  writes: 

"  Lo :  there  are  many  ways  and  many  traps 

And  many  guides  and  which  of  them  is  Lord  ? 
For  verily  Mohammed  has  the  sword 
And  he  may  have  the  truth — perhaps  ?  perhaps? 

Now  this  religion  happens  to  prevail 
Until  by  that  one  it  is  overthrown, — 
Because  men  dare  not  live  with  men  alone, 

But  always  with  another  fairy-tale. 

Religion  is  a  charming  girl,  I  say ; 
But  over  this  poor  threshold  will  not  pass, 
Because  I  can't  unveil  her,  and  alas ; 

The  bridal  gift  I  can't  afford  to  pay." 

Nor  could  this  poet  have  had  much  reverence  for 
the  religion  of  Islam  when  he  wrote: 

"  Where  is  the  valiance  of  the  folk  who  sing 
These  valiant  stories  of  the  world  to  come? 
Which  they  describe,  forsooth,  as  if  it  swung 
In  air  and  anchored  with  a  yard  of  string." 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION  97 

"  Two  merchantmen  decided  they  would  battle, 
To  prove  at  last  who  sold  the  finest  wares ; 
And  while  Mohammed  shrieked  his  call  to 

prayers, 
The  true  Messiah  waved  his  wooden  rattle." 

As  in  the  nineteenth  century  for  Christianity,  so 
in  the  eleventh  century  for  Islam,  the  struggle  be- 
tween science  and  orthodoxy  waged  fiercely.  The 
rationalistic  school  of  the  Mu'atazilites  still  exer- 
cised great  influence  while  the  literalists  and  the 
blind  followers  of  traditional  Islam  were  often 
more  distinguished  for  Pharisaism  than  piety. 

We  need  only  turn  to  the  "  Maqamat "  of  Al- 
Hamadhani  to  know  what  the  sceptic  of  that  day 
thought  of  the  public  religious  services. 

"  So  I  slipped  away  from  my  companions,"  says 
his  hero,  "  taking  advantage  of  the  opportunity  of 
joining  in  public  prayers,  and  dreading,  at  the  same 
time,  the  loss  of  the  caravan  I  was  leaving.  But  I 
sought  aid  against  the  difficulty  of  the  desert 
through  the  blessing  of  prayer,  and,  therefore,  I 
went  to  the  front  row  and  stood  up.  The  Imam 
went  up  to  the  niche  and  recited  the  opening  chap- 
ter of  the  Quran  according  to  the  intonation  of 
Hamza,  in  regard  to  using  '  Madda '  and  '  Hamsa/ 
while  I  experienced  disquieting  grief  at  the  thought 
of  missing  the  caravan,  and  of  separation  from  the 
mount.  Then  he  followed  up  the  Surat  Al-Fatiha 
with  Surat  Al-Waq'ia  while  I  suffered  the  fire  of 
impatience  and  tasked  myself  severely.  I  was 


98         A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

roasting  and  grilling  on  the  live  coal  of  rage.  But, 
from  what  I  knew  of  the  savage  fanaticism  of  the 
people  of  that  place,  if  prayers  were  cut  short  of 
the  final  salutation,  there  was  no  alternative  but 
silence  and  endurance,  or  speech  and  the  grave! 
So  I  remained  standing  thus  on  the  foot  of  neces- 
sity till  the  end  of  the  chapter.  I  had  now  de- 
spaired of  the  caravan  and  given  up  all  hope  of  the 
supplies  and  the  mount.  He  next  bent  his  back  for 
the  two  prostrations  with  such  humility  and  emo- 
tion, the  like  of  which  I  had  never  seen  before. 
Then  he  raised  his  hands  and  his  head  and  said: 
'  May  God  accept  the  praise  of  him  who  praises 
Him/  and  remained  standing  till  I  doubted  not  but 
that  he  had  fallen  asleep.  Then  he  placed  his  right 
hand  on  the  ground,  put  his  forehead  on  the  earth 
and  pressed  his  face  thereto.  I  raised  my  head  to 
look  for  an  opportunity  to  slip  away,  but  I  per- 
ceived no  opening  in  the  rows,  so  I  re-addressed 
myself  to  prayer  until  he  repeated  the  Takbir  for 
the  sitting  posture.  Then  he  stood  up  for  the  sec- 
ond prostration,  recited  the  Suras  of  Al-Fatiha  and 
Al-Qaria  with  an  intonation  which  occupied  the 
duration  of  the  Last  Day  and  well-nigh  exhausted 
the  spirits  of  the  congregation.  Now,  when  he 
had  finished  his  two  prostrations  and  proceeded  to 
wag  his  jaws  to  pronounce  the  testimony  to  God's 
unity,  and  to  turn  his  face  to  the  right  and  to  the 
left  for  the  final  salutation,  I  said:  '  Now  God  has 
made  escape  easy,  and  deliverance  is  nigh ' ;  but  a 


TEACHING  AND  CONYEESION  99 

man  stood  up  and  said:  '  Whosoever  of  you  loves 
the  companions  of  the  Moslem  community  let  him 
lend  me  his  ears  for  a  moment/  " — Such  was  the 
impression  made  by  the  formalities  of  orthodoxy ! 

Al-Ghazali  found  no  help  for  his  doubts  among 
these  scholastic  theologians  nor  has  any  Moslem 
since  his  day.  Professor  Macdonald  tells  us  why. 
^  Grant  the  theologians  their  premises,  and  they 
could  argue ;  deny  them,  and  there  was  no  common 
ground  on  which  to  meefTI  Their  science  had  been 
founded  by  Al-Ash'ari  to  meet  the  Mu'tazilites ;  it 
had  done  that  victoriously,  but  could  do  no  more. 
JEhey  could  hold  the  faith  against  heretics,  expose 
their  inconsistencies  and  weaknesses;  but  against 
the  sceptic  they  could  do  nothingj  It  is  true  that 
they  had  attempted  to  go  further  back  and  meet  the 
students  of  philosophy  on  their  own  ground,  to 
deal  with  substances  and  attributes  and  first  prin- 
ciples generally ;  but  their  efforts  had  been  fruitless. 
They  lacked  the  necessary  knowledge  of  the  sub- 
ject, had  no  scientific  basis,  and  were  constrained 
eventually  to  fall  back  on  authority."  * 

"Nor  did  he  find  light  in  philosophy,  although  he 
thoroughly  studied  the  various  systems  of  his  day 
and  refuted  them.  Religion  is  not  merely  of  the 
mind  but  of  the  heart;  philosophy  had  its  place 
but  could  satisfy  only  the  intellect  and  left  the 
deepest  longings  of  the  soul  unsatisfied.  Next  he 
examined  the  teachings  of  the  Ta'limites,  the  con- 
1  Macdonald,  p.  88. 


100       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  APTEE  GOD 

temporary  sect  of  the  Ishmaelites  founded  by  Has- 
san Ibn  as  Sabbah.  Theirs  was  the  doctrine  of 
an  Imam  or  infallible  spiritual  guide  and  the  sect 
found  large  following.  But  Al-Ghazali,  so  far 
from  being  attracted  by  them,  wrote  several  books 
against  them."  No  other  path  remained  open  for 
the  perplexed  and  sceptical  seeker  after  God  than 
the  way  of  the  mystics.  It  was  a  return  to  the 
early  teaching  he  received  at  Tus  and  Nishapur  and 
to  the  atmosphere  of  his  native  land  which  was  for 
centuries  steeped  in  mysticism.  Of  this  period  of 
his  life  he  was  wont  to  say: 

"  When  I  wished  to  plunge  into  following  the 
people  and  to  drink  of  their  drink,  I  looked  at  my 
soul  and  I  saw  how  much  it  was  curtained  in,  so 
I  retired  into  solitude  and  busied  myself  with  re- 
ligious exercises  for  forty  days,  and  there  was 
doled  to  me  of  knowledge  I  had  not  had  purer  and 
finer  than  what  I  had  known.  Then  I  looked  upon 
it,  and  lo,  in  it  was  a  legal  element.  So  I  returned 
to  solitude  and  busied  myself  with  religious  exer- 
cises for  forty  days,  and  there  was  doled  to  me 
other  knowledge,  purer  and  finer  than  what  had 
befallen  me  at  first,  and  I  rejoiced  in  it.  Then  I 
looked  upon  it,  and  lo,  in  it  was  a  speculative  ele- 
ment. So  I  returned  to  solitude  a  third  time  for 
forty  days,  and  there  was  doled  to  me  other  knowl- 
edge that  is  known  (i.  e.f  not  simply  perceived, 
felt),  and  I  did  not  attain  to  the  people  of  the  in- 
aMacdonald,  p.  90,  and  see  Bibliography. 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEBSION         101 

ward  sciences.  So  I  know  that  writing  on  a  sur- 
face from  which  something  has  been  erased  is  not 
like  writing  on  a  surface  in  its  first  purity  and 
cleanness,  and  I  never  separated  myself  from  spec- 
ulation except  in  a  few  things." 

Who  can  read  this  and  doubt  his  utter  sincerity 
in  the  search  for  God  and  for  Truth  ? 
X  He  tells  the  rest  of  the  story  in  his  "  Confes- 
sions " :  "I  saw  that  Sufism  consists  in  experi- 
ences rather  than  in  definitions,  and  that  what  I 
was  lacking  belonged  to  the  domain,  not  of  instruc- 
tion but  of  ecstasy  and  initiation. 

"  The  researches  to  which  I  had  devoted  myself, 
the  path  which  I  had  traversed  in  studying  religious 
and  speculative  branches  of  knowledge,  had  given 
me  a  firm  faith  in  three  things — God,  inspiration, 
and  the  Last  Judgment.  These  three  fundamental 
articles  of  belief  were  confirmed  in  me,  not  merely 
by  definite  arguments,  but  by  a  chain  of  causes,  cir- 
cumstances, and  proofs  which  it  is  impossible  to  re- 
count. I  saw  that  one  can  only  hope  for  salvation 
by  devotion  and  the  conquest  of  one's  passions,  a 
procedure  which  presupposes  renouncement  and 
detachment  from  this  world  of  falsehood  in  order 
to  turn  towards  eternity  and  meditation  on  God. 
Finally,  I  saw  that  the  only  condition  of  success 
was  to  sacrifice  honours  and  riches  and  to  sever  the 
ties  and  attachments  of  worldly  life. 

"  Coming  seriously  to  consider  my  state,  I  found 
myself  bound  down  on  all  sides  by  these  trammels. 


102       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Examining  my  actions,  the  most  fair-seeming  of 
which  were  my  lecturing  and  professorial  occupa- 
tions, I  found  to  my  surprise  that  I  was  engrossed 
in  several  studies  of  little  value,  and  profitless  as 
regards  my  salvation.  I  probed  the  motives  of  my 
teaching  and  found  that,  in  place  of  being  sincerely 
consecrated  to  God,  it  was  only  actuated  by  a  vain 
desire  of  honour  and  reputation.  I  perceived  that 
I  was  on  the  edge  of  an  abyss,  and  that  without  an 
immediate  conversion  I  should  be  doomed  to  eter- 
nal fire.  In  these  reflections  I  spent  a  long  time. 
Still  a  prey  to  uncertainty,  one  day  I  decided  to 
leave  Bagdad  and  to  give  up  everything;  the  next 
day  I  gave  up  my  resolution.  I  advanced  one  step 
and  immediately  relapsed.  In  the  morning  I  was 
sincerely  resolved  only  to  occupy  myself  with  the 
future  life;  in  the  evening  a  crowd  of  carnal 
thoughts  assailed  and  dispersed  my  resolutions. 
On  the  one  side  the  world  kept  me  bound  to  my 
post  in  the  chains  of  covetousness,  on  the  other  side 
the  voice  of  religion  cried  to  me:  'Up,  Up,  thy 
life  is  nearing  its  end,  and  thou  hast  a  long  journey 
to  make.  All  thy  pretended  knowledge  is  nought 
but  falsehood  and  fantasy.  If  thou  dost  not  think 
now  of  thy  salvation,  when  wilt  thou  think  of  it? 
If  thou  dost  not  break  thy  chains  to-day,  when 
wilt  thou  break  them?'  Then  my  resolve  was 
strengthened,  I  wished  to  give  up  all  and  flee ;  but 
the  Tempter  returning  to  the  attack  said:  'You 
are  suffering  from  a  transitory  feeling ;  don't  give 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEBSION         103 

way  to  it,  for.  it  will  soon  pass.  If  you  obey  it,  if 
you  give  up  this  fine  position,  this  honourable  post 
exempt  from  trouble  and  rivalry,  this  seat  of  au- 
thority safe  from  attack  you  will  regret  it  later  on 
without  being  able  to  recover  it/ 

"  Thus  I  remained,  torn  asunder  by  the  oppo- 
site forces  of  earthly  passions  and  religious  aspira- 
tions, for  about  six  months  from  the  month  Rajab 
of  the  year  A.  D.  1096.  At  the  close  of  them  my 
will  yielded  and  I  gave  myself  up  to  destiny.  God 
caused  an  impediment  to  chain  my  tongue  and  pre- 
vented me  from  lecturing.  Vainly  I  desired,  in  the 
interest  of  my  pupils,  to  go  on  with  my  teaching, 
but  my  mouth  became  dumb. 

"  The  enfeeblement  of  my  physical  powers  was 
such  that  the  doctors  despairing  of  saving  me,  said: 
'  The  mischief  is  in  the  heart,  and  has  communi- 
cated itself  to  the  whole  organism;  there  is  no  hope 
unless  the  cause  of  his  grievous  sadness  be  ar- 
rested/ 

"  Finally,  conscious  of  my  weakness  and  the 
prostration  of  my  soul,  I  took  refuge  in  God  as  a 
man  at  the  end  of  himself  and  without  resources. 
4  He  who  hears  the  wretched  when  they  cry ' 
(Koran,  xxviii.  63)  deigned  to  hear  me;  He 
made  easy  to  me  the  sacrifice  of  honours,  wealth, 
and  family  "  ("The  Confessions,"  pp.  42-45). 

That  his  conversion  did  not  mean  ethically  all 
that  the  word  means  in  the  Christian  sense  is  evi- 
dent from  what  immediately  follows.  He  dis- 


104        A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

sembled :  "  I  gave  out  publicly  that  I  intended  to 
make  the  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  while  I  secretly  re- 
solved to  go  to  Syria,"  not  wishing  that  the  Caliph 
(may  God  magnify  him)  or  my  friends  should 
know  my  intention  of  settling  in  that  country.  I 
made  all  kinds  of  clever  excuses  for  leaving  Bag- 
dad with  the  fixed  intention  of  not  returning 
thither.  The  Imams  of  Irak  criticized  me  with 
one  accord.  Not  one  of  them  would  admit  that 
this  sacrifice  had  a  religious  motive,  because  they 
considered  my  position  as  the  highest  attainable 
in  the  religious  community.  '  Behold  how  far 
their  knowledge  goes  '  (Koran,  liii.  31).  All  kinds 
of  explanations  of  my  conduct  were  forthcoming. 
Those  who  were  outside  the  limits  of  Irak  at- 
tributed it  to  the  fear  with  which  the  Government 
inspired  me.  Those  who  were  on  the  spot  and 
saw  how  the  authorities  wished  to  detain  me,  their 
displeasure  at  my  resolution  and  my  refusal  of 
their  request,  said  to  themselves,  '  It  is  a  calamity 
which  one  can  only  impute  to  a  fate  which  has  be- 
fallen the  Faithful  and  Learning/ 

"At  last  I  left  Bagdad,  giving  up  all  my  fortune. 
Only,  as  lands  and  property  in  Irak  can  afford  an 
endowment  for  pious  purposes,  I  obtained  a  legal 
authorization  to  preserve  as  much  as  was  necessary 
for  my  support  and  that  of  my  children ;  for  there 
is  surely  nothing  more  lawful  in  the  world  than  that 
a  learned  man  should  provide  sufficient  to  support 
his  family.  I  then  betook  myself  to  Syria,  where 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION         105 

I  remained  for  two  years,  which  I  devoted  to  re- 
tirement, meditation,  and  devout  exercises.  I  only 
thought  of  self-improvement  and  discipline  and  of 
purification  of  the  heart  by  prayer  in  going  through 
the  forms  of  devotion  which  the  Sufis  had  taught 
me.  I  used  to  live  a  solitary  life  in  the  Mosque  of 
Damascus,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  spending  my 
days  on  the  minaret  after  closing  the  door  behind 
me"  (pp.  45-46). 

When  Al-Ghazali  determined  to  abandon  the 
world  and  set  out  as  a  pilgrim  he  was  only  fol- 
lowing the  custom  of  his  time.  Not  only  religious 
men  but  adventurers  found  in  travel  relief  and 
recreation.  The  pious  did  it,  as  they  asserted,  in 
imitation  of  Jesus,  the  Messiah,  whose  name  is 
often  interpreted  as  meaning  "  one  who  travels 
constantly."  And  the  worldly-minded  often  donned 
the  garb  of  religious  fakirs  to  satisfy  their  desire  for 
adventure  and  their  ambition  to  see  distant  lands. 

Because  of  facilities  for  travel  by  post  and  cara- 
van routes,  this  period  seemed  one  of  wanderlust 
second  to  none.  A  scholar  was  not  satisfied  unless 
he  had  seen  the  world  of  Islam.  Of  At-Tabrizi 
(A.  D.  1030-1100),  one  of  the  contemporaries  of 
Al-Ghazali,  who  was  also  professor  at  the  Niza- 
miyya  School,  we  read  that  when  he  desired  to  go 
on  a  journey  for  literary  purposes  "he  had  no 
money  wherewith  to  hire  a  horse,  so  he  put  his 
book  into  a  sack  and  started  to  walk  the  long 
journey  from  Persia  to  Syria.  The  sweat  on  his 


106       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

back  oozed  through  the  material  of  his  sack  and 
stained  the  precious  manuscript,  which  was  long 
preserved  and  shown  to  visitors  in  one  of  the 
libraries  of  Bagdad."  The  Persian  poet  Sa'adi 
was  left  an  orphan  at  an  early  age,  went  to  Bagdad 
-to  attend  the  Nizamiyya  University  course,  made 
the  Mecca  pilgrimage  several  times  over,  acted,  out 
of  charity,  as  a  water-carrier  in  the  markets  of 
Jerusalem  and  the  Syrian  towns,  was  taken  pris- 
oner by  the  Franks,  and  forced  to  work  with  Jews 
at  cleaning  out  the  moats  of  Tripoli  in  Syria;  he 
was  ransomed  by  an  Aleppan,  who  gave  him  his 
daughter  in  marriage.  He  himself  mentions  his 
visits  to  Kashgar  in  Turkestan,  to  Abyssinia,  and 
Asia  Minor.  He  even  travelled  about  India,  pass- 
ing through  Afghanistan  on  his  way. 

We  have  a  picture  of  such  a  dervish  (a  dishonest 
one,  however)  in  Hamadhani's  forty-second 
Maqamat:  "  So  I  started  wandering,  as  though  I 
was  the  Messiah,  and  I  journeyed  over  Khorasan, 
its  deserted  and  populous  parts,  to  Kirman,  Siji- 
stan,  Jilan,  Tabaristan,  Oman,  to  Sind  and  Hind, 
to  Nubia  and  Egypt,  Yemen,  Hijaz,  Mecca  and  al 
Ta'if.  I  roamed  over  deserts  and  wastes,  seeking 
warmth  and  the  fire  and  taking  shelter  with  the 
ass,  till  both  my  cheeks  were  blackened.  And  thus 
I  collected  of  anecdotes  and  fables,  witticisms  and 
traditions,  poems  of  the  humorists,  the  diversions 
of  the  frivolous,  the  fabrications  of  the  lovesick, 
the  saws  of  the  pseudo-philosophers,  the  tricks  of 


o 

a; 

<-M 

o 

!_ 
O 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION         107 

the  conjurors,  the  artifices  of  the  artful,  the  rare 
sayings  of  convivial  companions,  the  fraud  of  the 
astrologers,  the  finesse  of  quacks,  the  deception  of 
the  effeminate,  the  guile  of  the  cheats,  the  devilry 
of  the  fiends,  such  that  the  legal  decisions  of  al- 
Sha'abi,  the  memory  of  al-Dabbi  and  the  learning 
of  al-Kalbi  would  have  fallen  short  of.  And  I 
solicited  gifts  and  asked  for  presents.  I  had  re- 
course to  influence  and  I  begged.  I  eulogized  and 
satirized,  till  I  acquired  much  property,  got  posses- 
sion of  Indian  swords  and  Yemen  blades,  fine  coats 
of  mail  of  Sabur  and  leathern  shields  of  Thibet, 
spears  of  al-Khatt  and  javelins  of  Barbary,  excel- 
lent fleet  horses  with  short  coats,  Armenian  mules, 
and  Mirris  asses,  silk  brocades  of  Rum  and  woolen 
stuffs  of  Sus." * 

To  the  honest  traveller,  like  Al-Ghazali,  however, 
it  was  not  so  easy  a  life.  Not  only  were  there  the 
hardships  of  travel  and  its  loneliness,  but  the 
asceticism  of  the  beggar  and  the  wayfarer.  "And 
to  such  a  pass  did  we  come,"  says  Hariri,  "  through 
assailing  fortune  and  prostrating  need, — that  we 
were  shod  with  soreness,  and  fed  on  choking,  and 
filled  our  bellies  with  ache,  and  wrapped  our  en- 
trails upon  hunger,  and  anointed  our  eyes  with 
watching,  and  made  pits  our  home,  and  deemed 
thorns  a  smooth  bed,  and  came  to  forget  our  sad- 
dles, and  thought  destroying  death  to  be  sweet  and 
the  ordained  day  to  be  tardy." 

"'The  Maqamat." 


108       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

We  may  believe  that  so  keen  an  observer  as  Al- 
Ghazali  carried  his  "  Baedeker  "  with  him  on  his 
travels.  He  was  doubtless  acquainted  with  the 
chief  geographical  works  of  that  period,  some  of 
which  contained  maps  and  even  illustrations.  The 
most  important  work  was  that  by  Abu'  Abdallah 
al-Maqdisi,  who  spent  a  great  part  of  his  life 
travelling  all  over  the  Moslem  empire,  with  the 
possible  exception  of  India  and  Spain.  His  book 
was  entitled:  "The  Best  Classification  for  the 
Knowledge  of  Climates."  It  was  written  in  A.  D. 
985.  Another  work  of  a  contemporary  of  Al- 
Ghazali,  Abu'  Ubaid  al-Bakri  of  Cordova,  was  a 
general  geography  of  all  the  roads  and  provinces 
of  the  Moslem  world. 

Although  we  have  no  details  of  Al-Ghazali's 
wanderings  we  can  at  least  follow  him  on  his 
journeys  and  learn  something  of  the  places  he 
visited  and  their  condition  in  his  day.  The  course 
of  his  travels  seems  to  have  been  from  Bagdad  to 
Damascus,  a  journey  of  nearly  five  hundred  miles, 
from  Damascus  to  Jerusalem  and  Hebron,  thence 
on  to  the  birthplace  of  the  Prophet  at  Mecca  and 
his  tomb  at  Medina  and  back  over  a  thousand  miles 
more  of  caravan  travel. 

All  through  this  period  of  Al-Ghazali's  life 
Damascus  was  experiencing  the  storm  and  stress 
of  war.  Shortly  before  his  time  the  city  was  taken 
by  the  Karmatians  and  much  of  it  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  There  were  frequent  changes  of  gov- 


TEACHING  AND  CONVEESION         109 

ernors,  uprisings  and  riots.  In  1068  the  great 
Mosque  was  set  on  fire.  In  1076  the  Seljuk  gen- 
erals seized  the  city,  built  anew  the  citadel  and 
other  buildings,  among  them  a  famous  hospital. 
This  was  about  fifteen  years  before  Al-Ghazali's 
arrival  there  from  Bagdad. 

The  great  Ummayad  Mosque  of  Damascus  was 
said  to  be  the  grandest  of  all  Mohammedan  build- 
ings. There  was  praying  space  for  20,000  men; 
and  it  is  said  to  have  taken  the  whole  revenue  of 
Syria  for  forty-seven  years,  not  counting  eighteen 
shiploads  of  gold  and  silver  from  Cyprus  to  com- 
plete the  building.  "When  the  wondrous  work 
was  finished,  the  Caliph  would  not  look  at  the  ac- 
counts brought  to  him  on  eighteen  laden  mules,  but 
ordered  that  they  should  be  burned  and  thus  ad- 
dressed the  crowd:  '  Men  of  Damascus,  you  possess 
four  glories  above  other  people ;  you  are  proud  of 
your  water,  your  air,  your  fruits,  your  baths ;  your 
mosque  shall  be  your  fifth  glory/  " 

Like  other  famous  places  of  Moslem  worship, 
this  mosque  was  once  the  site  of  a  Christian  church, 
dedicated  to  St.  John  the  Baptist,  to  whom  there  is 
still  an  imposing  shrine.  For  some  years  the 
building  was  shared  between  Christians  and 
Mohammedans,  but  in  A.  D.  708  the  Christians 
were  driven  out.  To  this  day  one  of  the  three 
minarets  is  called  by  the  name  of  Isa  (Jesus),  and 
above  a  gate,  long  since  closed,  is  the  Greek  inscrip- 
tion, "  THY  KINGDOM,  O  CHRIST,  is  AN  EVERLAST- 


110       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  APTEE  GOD 

ING    KINGDOM,    AND    THY    DOMINION    ENDURETH 
THROUGHOUT  ALL  GENERATIONS." 

Al-Ghazali  spent  many  hours  for  many  years 
under  the  shadow  of  this  great  building,  and  it  was 
in  the  minaret  of  Jesus  that  he  had  long  medita- 
tions. The  minaret  of  Jesus,  according  to  H.  Sala- 
din,1  was  built  in  the  eleventh  century,  shortly  be- 
fore the  time  of  Al-Ghazali's  visit.  Did  he  ever 
find  or  understand  the  inscription  on  the  gate  and 
meditate  on  that  Prophet  whose  kingdom  has  no 
end  and  no  frontier  ? 

*"  Manuel  d'Art  Musulman,"  Vol.  I,  Paris,  1907. 


IV 

Wanderings,  Later  Years,  and  Death 


"Then  came  the  immediate  breaking  up  of  the 
Seljukian  Empire  into  a  number  of  independent 
principalities.  Syria,  Palestine,  and  all  Asia  Minor, 
were  partitioned  among  a  dozen  different  Turkish 
Emirs.  Khorasan  and  Irak  became  the  scene  of  a 
fierce  civil  war,  extending  over  several  years,  be- 
tween two  sons  of  Malek  Shah,  Barkiaroc  and 
Muhammed.  Drought  was  added  to  the  horrors  of 
war;  the  people  perished  by  thousands  of  famine; 
the  incessant  marching  and  counter-marching  of  the 
hostile  armies  destroyed  the  remnant  of  food  which 
had  survived  the  want  of  rain.  To  crown  all,  from 
the  borders  of  Christendom  a  fresh  scourge  was  be- 
held preparing  for  Islam.  The  hosts  of  the  Red 
Cross  passed  the  Bosphorus,  and  fought  their  way 
knee-deep  in  blood  to  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  The 
capture  of  the  Holy  City  struck  like  the  point  of  a 
poisoned  dagger  to  the  heart  of  every  true  Moslem." 
— "  Islam  under  the  Khalifs  of  Baghdad/' 
by  Robert  Dune  Osborn. 


IV 

WANDERINGS,  LATER  YEARS,  AND 
DEATH 

iHE  chronology  of  Al-Ghazali's  life  was  a 
puzzle  even  to  those  who  wrote  only  a 
century  after  his  death.  There  seems 
great  uncertainty  not  only  as  to  the  time  of  his 
various  journeyings  but  as  to  their  order,  and  there 
is  dispute  even  regarding  the  places  he  visited. 
We  know  that  the  date  of  his  conversion  was 
A.  H.  488  (A.  D.  1095),  when  he  was  thirty-eight 
years  old,  and  that  shortly  after  this  he  went  into 
exile.  In  A.  H.  498  (A.  D.  1104)  he  is  said  to  have 
returned  to  active  life,  and  to  have  spent  two  years 
in  retirement  in  Syria.  The  other  dates  are  quite 
uncertain.  Following  the  best  authorities  at  our 
disposal,  especially  his  own  "  Confessions,"  we 
continue  the  story  where  we  left  off  in  the  last 
chapter.1 

"  From  Damascus,"  says  Al-Ghazali,  "  I  pro- 
ceeded to  Jerusalem,  and  every  day  secluded  my- 
self in  the  Sanctuary  of  the  Rock.  After  that  I 

1  Compare  on  the  chronology  the  first  chapters  of  Gard- 
ner's "Al-Ghazali,"  1919  (Christian  Lit.  Soc.  for  India). 

"3 


114       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

felt  a  desire  to  accomplish  the  Pilgrimage,  and  to 
receive  a  full  effusion  of  grace  by  visiting  Mecca, 
Medina,  and  the  Tomb  of  the  Prophet.  After 
visiting  the  shrine  of  the  Friend  of  God  (Abra- 
ham), I  went  to  the  Hejaz.  Finally,  the  longings 
of  my  heart  and  the  prayers  of  my  children  brought 
me  back  to  my  country,  although  I  was  so  firmly 
resolved  at  first  never  to  revisit  it.  At  any  rate, 
I  meant,  if  I  did  return,  to  live  there  solitary  and 
in  religious  meditation;  but  events,  family  care, 
and  vicissitudes  of  life  changed  my  resolutions  and 
troubled  my  meditative  calm.  However  irregular 
the  intervals  which  I  could  give  to  devotional 
ecstasy,  my  confidence  in  it  did  not  diminish ;  and 
the  more  I  was  diverted  by  hindrances,  the  more 
steadfastly  I  returned  to  it.  Ten  years  passed  in 
this  manner." 

According  to  this  account  his  pilgrimage  to 
Jerusalem  and  Hebron,  to  Medina  and  Mecca,  was 
part  of  one  itinerary ;  it  also  is  the  natural  route  of 
travel  from  Bagdad  to  the  birthplace  of  Islam. 
The  statement  made  by  some  authorities  that  he 
first  remained  ten  years  at  Damascus  is  therefore 
probably  inaccurate.  If  we  are  to  believe  al- 
Isnawi,  the  course  of  events  was  as  follows:  He 
set  out  in  the  year  A.  D.  1095  for  the  Hejaz.  On 
his  return  from  the  pilgrimage,  he  journeyed  to 
Damascus,  and  made  his  abode  there  for  some 
years  in  the  minaret  of  the  Grand  Mosque,  com- 
posing several  works  of  which  the  Ihya  is  said  to 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    115 

be  one.  Then  after  visiting  Jerusalem  and  per- 
haps Cairo  and  Alexandria,  he  returned  to  his  home 
at  Tus. 

According  to  one  Arabic  authority,  when  Al- 
Ghazali  left  Damascus  in  his  wanderings,  he  was 
accompanied  by  a  disciple,  a  certain  Abu  Tahir 
Ibrahim,  who  had  been  a  pupil  also  at  Nishapur 
under  the  great  Imam ;  he  returned  afterwards  to 
Jurjan,  his  native  place,  and  died  a  martyr  in 
A.  H.  513.  Other  pupils  of  his  at  Damascus  are 
also  mentioned,  but  the  authorities  do  not  agree. 

Among  many  shrines  at  Jerusalem,  Al-Ghazali 
visited  the  Mosque  of  Omar,  and  the  Dome  of  the 
Rock.  In  Sura  xvii.  1,  Mohammed  is  represented 
as  having  taken  his  flight  from  Mecca  to  Jeru- 
salem.— "  Celebrated  be  the  praises  of  Him  who  by 
night  took  his  servant  from  the  Masjidu  'l-Haram 
(the  Sacred  Mosque)  to  the  Masjidu  'l-Aqsa  (the 
Remote  Mosque),  the  precinct  of  which  we  have 
blessed." 

As-Suyuti  says  Jerusalem  is  specially  honoured 
by  Moslems  as  being  the  scene  of  the  repentance 
of  David  and  Solomon.  "  The  place  where  God 
sent  His  angel  to  Solomon,  announced  glad  tidings 
to  Zacharias  and  John,  showed  David  a  plan  of  the 
Temple,  and  put  all  the  beasts  of  the  earth  and 
fowls  of  the  air  in  subjection  to  him.  It  was  at 
Jerusalem  that  the  prophets  sacrificed;  that  Jesus 
was  born  and  spoke  in  His  cradle ;  and  it  was  from 
Jerusalem  that  Jesus  ascended  to  heaven;  and  it 


116       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

will  be  there  that  He  will  again  descend.  Gog 
and  Magog  shall  subdue  every  place  on  the  earth 
but  Jerusalem,  and  it  will  be  there  that  God  Al- 
mighty will  destroy  them.  It  is  in  the  holy  land 
of  Jerusalem  that  Adam  and  Abraham,  and  Isaac 
and  Mary  are  buried.  And  in  the  last  days  there 
will  be  a  general  flight  to  Jerusalem,  when  the  Ark 
and  the  Shechinah  will  be  again  restored  to  the 
Temple.  There  will  all  mankind  be  gathered  at 
the  Resurrection  for  judgment,  and  God  will  enter, 
surrounded  by  His  angels,  into  the  Holy  Temple, 
when  He  comes  to  judge  the  earth." 

Here  Al-Ghazali  would  see  the  sacred  footprint 
of  Mohammed  made  in  the  rock  on  his  journey  to 
heaven;  the  praying  places  of  Abraham  and  Elijah 
would  be  pointed  out  to  him ;  the  round  hole  where 
the  rock  let  Mohammed  through  when  he  ascended 
to  heaven;  the  holy  place  in  the  roof  of  the  cavern 
where  it  arose  to  allow  him  to  stand  erect  and  to 
pray;  the  tongue  with  which  it  spoke;  and  the 
marks  of  the  Angel  Gabriel's  finger  where  it  had 
to  be  held  down  from  following  him  in  his  ascen- 
sion! The  place  is  also  pointed  out  by  Moslems 
to-day  where  Solomon  tormented  the  demons,  and 
also  near  the  eastern  wall  where  the  throne  stood 
whereon  he  sat  when  dead,  the  corpse  leaning  on 
his  staff  to  cheat  the  demons  until  the  worms  had 
gnawed  it  through  and  the  body  fell  forward.  All 
this  is  found  in  Moslem  Tradition,  and  must  have 
stirred  the  credulity  or  the  scepticism  of  Al- 


WANDERINGS,  LATER  YEARS,  DEATH    117 

Ghazali.  He  himself  tells  us  in  one  of  his  books 
that  on  the  last  day  Israfil,  who,  with  Gabriel  and 
Michael,  has  been  restored  to  life,  "  standing  on  the 
rock  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  will  at  the  com- 
mand of  God  call  together  the  souls  from  all  parts, 
those  of  believers  from  Paradise  and  the  unbe- 
lievers from  hell,  and  throw  them  into  his  trumpet. 
There  they  will  be  ranged  in  little  holes,  like  bees 
in  a  hive,  and  will,  on  his  giving  the  last  sound,  be 
thrust  out  and  fly  like  bees,  filling  the  whole  space 
between  earth  and  heaven.  Then  they  will  repair 
to  their  respective  bodies.  The  earth  will  then  be 
an  immense  plain  without  hills  or  villages,  and  the 
dead,  after  they  have  risen,  will  sit  down  each  one 
on  his  tomb,  anxiously  waiting  for  what  is  to 
come." 

A  modern  traveller  describes  other  Moslem 
superstitions  connected  with  this  Mosque.  "  The 
little  arcades  at  the  top  of  the  steps  of  the  plat- 
form are  called  '  Balances/  because  the  scales  of 
judgment  are  to  be  suspended  there  on  the  Great 
Day.  The  Dome  of  the  Chain  owes  its  name  to 
the  circumstance  that  there  a  golden  chain  hung  at 
David's  place  of  judgment,  which  had  to  be 
grasped  by  witnesses  and  dropped  a  link  when  a 
lie  was  told.  A  place  in  the  outer  wall  is  shown 
from  which  a  wire  will  be  suspended  on  the  Day  of 
Judgment,  whose  other  end  will  be  made  fast  to  the 

Quoted  in  Klein's  "Islam,"  page  87,  from  the  Ihya, 
IV:  320. 


118       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

Mount  of  Olives.  Christ  will  sit  on  the  wall  and 
Mohammed  on  the  mount.  Over  this  wire  must 
all  men  find  their  way,  but  only  the  good  will  cross, 
the  wicked  falling  into  the  valley  beneath.  In  the 
Al-Aqsa  Mosque  a  couple  of  pillars  stand  very 
near  each  other,  so  worn  that  they  are  perceptibly 
thinned.  The  space  between  them  bulges,  and  a 
piece  of  spiked  iron  work  is  now  inserted  between 
them.  These  are  another  test  for  the  final  award — 
he  who  could  squeeze  himself  between  them,  and 
he  alone,  had  found  the  true  '  narrow  way  to 
heaven.'  " 

We  have  descriptions  of  Jerusalem  by  a  Moslem 
who  wrote  at  the  end  of  the  tenth,  and  by  another 
of  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century.  The  latter 
estimated  the  population  at  twenty  thousand,  and 
fancied  that  as  many  more  Moslem  pilgrims  came 
to  the  city  in  the  month  of  their  pilgrimage;  Chris- 
tians and  Jews  then  visited  the  city  as  they  do 
to-day.  Both  these  writers  praise  the  place  for  its 
cleanliness,  which  they  attribute  to  its  geographical 
position  and  natural  drainage.  Yet  the  history  of 
Jerusalem  throughout  this  century  is  little  more 
than  the  record  of  damage  and  repair  to  Christian 
and  Moslem  sanctuaries.  In  A.  D.  1010  the  Church 
of  the  Holy  Sepulchre  was  destroyed  by  the  mad 
Sultan  Hakim.  This  was  followed  by  other 
humiliations  of  the  pilgrims  and  persecutions,  until 
Peter  the  Hermit  arose  in  protest  and  the  Crusades 
began. 


\ 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH   119 


We  have  no  information  as  to  how  Al-Ghazali 
spent  his  days  during  this  visit  at  Jerusalem.  It 
was  a  time  of  war  and  tumult  throughout  Syria,  on 
the  eve  of  the  Crusades.  One  can  imagine  with 
what  interest  Al-Ghazali  studied  the  whole  situa- 
tion and  how  this  ardent  champion  of  the  Moslem 
faith  was  stirred  by  the  coming  events  whose 
shadows  were  already  resting  on  the  Holy  Land  at 
the  time  of  his  visit  there.  We  do  know  that  he 
lived  the  life  of  a  mystic,  and  devoted  himself  to 
prayer  and  fasting.  Prayer  occupies  a  large  place 
in  the  life  of  every  conscientious  Moslem.  Not 
only  are  there  the  five  ritual  prayers,  but  the  night 
prayer  which,  according  to  Al-Ghazali  himself, 
must  be  performed  between  midnight  and  the  be- 
ginning of  dawn.  It  has  been  calculated  that  a 
Moslem  conscientiously  performing  his  devotions 
recites  the  same  form  of  prayer  at  least  seventy- 
five  times  a  day.  In  addition  to  these  prayers,  how- 
ever, there  are  prayers  called  witr  to  be  performed 
after  the  night  prayer;  dhuha,  the  prayer  used  in 
the  forenoon ;  and  the  prayer  of  night  vigils,  which 
take  place  between  the  last  evening  prayer  and  mid- 
night. In  addition  to  observing  all  the  above  men- 
tioned prayers,  those  who  would  reach  a  high  de- 
gree of  perfection  are  recommended  by  Al-Ghazali, 
in  accordance  with  his  own  practices  at  this  period, 
to  engage  in  certain  additional  devotional  exer- 
cises called  wird.  We  may  best  note  the  character 
of  this  mystical  devotion,  in  which  he  spent  whole 


120       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

days  and  nights,  by  quoting  in  substance  from  the 
Ihya  as  follows: 

"  From  many  verses  of  the  Koran  it  appears  that 
the  only  way  of  becoming  united  with  God  is  con- 
stant intercourse  with  Him.  This  is  the  object  of 
the  devotional  services  called  wird  in  which  the  be- 
liever can  engage  at  all  times  of  the  day  as  well  as 
the  night.  The  wirds  to  be  observed  during  the 
day  are  seven:  First  wird.  The  Moslem  on  rising 
early  mentions  the  name  of  God,  and  praises  Him, 
reciting  certain  petitions;  while  dressing,  he  re- 
cites the  appointed  petitions,  cleans  his  teeth  with 
the  miswak,  performs  the  Wudhu,  then  prays  two 
Sunna  raka's  of  dawn.1  After  this  he  repeats  a 
petition  and  goes  to  the  mosque  with  collected 
thoughts.  He  enters  the  mosque  solemnly  and  re- 
spectfully with  the  right  foot  first,  saying  the  ap- 
pointed petitions  on  entering  and  leaving.  He 
enters  the  first  rank  of  worshippers  if  there  be 
room,  and  prays  the  two  raka's  of  dawn,  if  he  has 
not  done  so  already  at  home;  then  two  raka's  of 
'  Saluting  the  Mosque/  and  sits  down  repeating 
petitions  and  praises,  awaiting  the  assembling  of 
the  congregation.  After  having  repeated  the 
obligatory  prayer  of  dawn,  he  remains  sitting  in 
the  mosque  till  sunrise,  meditating  and  repeating 
certain  petitions,  and  praises  a  certain  number  of 
times,  counting  them  by  the  rosary,  and  reciting 

aFor   the   significance   of   these   terms  consult   Hughes' 
"Dictionary  of  Islam.1' 


WANDERINGS,  LATER  YEAES,  DEATH    121 

portions  of  the  Koran.  [We  know  that  the  rosary 
was  in  general  use  from  a  reference  to  it  in  the 
"Assemblies "  of  al-Hariri,  and  in  Al-Ghazali's 
"Alchemy  of  Happiness."]  The  second  wird  is  be- 
tween sunrise  and  an  advanced  forenoon  hour ;  the 
worshipper  says  a  prayer  of  two  raka's,  and  when 
the  sun  has  risen  the  length  of  a  lance  above  the 
horizon  two  more  raka's.  This  is  the  time  when 
the  believer  may  perform  good  works,  such  as 
visiting  the  sick,  etc.  When  nothing  of  the  kind 
requires  his  attention,  he  spends  his  time  in  repeat- 
ing petitions,  in  zikr,  meditation  and  reading  the 
Koran.  The  third  wird  is  between  morning  and 
the  ascending  of  the  sun;  the  believer,  after  taking 
care  of  his  worldly  affairs,  engages  in  the  devo- 
tional exercises  as  before  mentioned.  Between 
the  time  when  the  sun  has  become  somewhat  high 
and  the  noon  prayer,  four  raka's  between  the  Azan 
and  the  Ikania  are  said  and  portions  of  the  Koran 
are  recited;  this  is  the  fourth  wird.  The  fifth, 
sixth  and  seventh  occur  after  this  until  vespers. 
Finally  there  are  the  wirds  of  the  night  which  are 
five,  divided  and  described  as  follows: — First  night 
wird:  after  sunset,  when  the  prayer  of  sunset  has 
been  performed,  to  the  time  when  darkness  has  set 
in,  the  worshipper  says  two  raka's,  in  which  certain 
portions  of  the  Koran  are  recited,  then  four  long 
raka's,  and  as  much  of  the  Koran  as  time  allows. 
This  wird  may  be  performed  at  home;  but  it  is 
preferable  to  do  so  in  the  mosque.  Second  night 


122       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

wird:  this  is  from  the  darkness  of  the  last  'Isha 
to  the  time  when  people  retire  to  sleep.  This  con- 
sists of  three  things:  (1)  the  obligatory  'Isha 
prayer;  ten  raka's,  viz.,  four  before  it  and  six  after 
it;  (2)  performing  a  prayer  of  thirteen  raka's,  the 
last  of  which  is  the  witr  prayer.  In  this  about 
three  hundred  verses  of  the  Koran  are  to  be  re- 
cited. (3)  The  witr  prayer  before  going  to  sleep, 
unless  one  is  accustomed  to  rise  in  the  night,  when 
it  may  be  performed  later  on,  which  is  more  merito- 
rious. Third  night  wird:  this  consists  of  sleep, 
and  sleep  may  well  be  considered  a  devotional  act, 
if  enjoyed  in  the  proper  way.  Fourth  night  wird: 
this  is  from  the  time  when  the  first  half  of  the 
night  is  spent  to  when  only  one-sixth  of  it  still 
remains.  At  this  time  the  believer  ought  to  rise 
from  sleep  and  perform  the  prayer  of  tahajjud. 
This  prayer  is  also  called  the  hujud.  Mohammed 
mostly  made  it  a  prayer  of  thirteen  raka's.  Fifth 
night  wird:  this  begins  with  the  last  sixth  of  the 
night,  called  the  Sahar,  the  early  morning  before 
dawn  to  the  appearing  of  dawn."  To  these  devo- 
tional exercises,  described  in  the  Ihya,  it  was  con- 
sidered meritorious  to  add  four  additional  good 
actions:  fasting,  almsgiving,  visiting  the  sick,  at- 
tending funerals ;  and  finally  all  this  punctilious  re- 
membrance of  God  through  prayer  was  supple- 
mented by  what  is  called  dhikr — the  special  method 
of  worship  used  by  the  Sufi  saints. 

Al-Ghazali  describes  the  method  and  effects  of 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    123 

this  practice  in  a  passage  which  Macdonald  has 
summarized  as  follows:  "Let  the  worshipper  re- 
duce his  heart  to  a  state  in  which  the  existence  of 
anything  and  its  non-existence  are  the  same  to  him. 
Then  let  him  sit  alone  in  some  corner,  limiting  his 
religious  duties  to  what  is  absolutely  necessary,  and 
not  occupying  himself  either  with  reciting  the 
Koran  or  considering  its  meaning  or  with  books  of 
religious  traditions  or  with  anything  of  the  sort. 
And  let  him  see  to  it  that  nothing  save  God  most 
High  enters  his  mind.  Then,  as  he  sits  in  solitude, 
let  him  not  cease  saying  continuously  with  his 
tongue,  'Allah,  Allah/  keeping  his  thought  on  it. 
At  last  he  will  reach  a  state  when  the  motion  of  his 
tongue  will  cease,  and  it  will  seem  as  though  the 
word  flowed  from  it.  Let  him  persevere  in  this 
until  all  trace  of  motion  is  removed  from  his 
tongue,  and  he  finds  his  heart  persevering  in  the 
thought.  Let  him  still  persevere  until  the  form  of 
the  word,  its  letters  and  shape,  is  removed  from  his 
heart,  and  there  remains  the  idea  alone,  as  though 
clinging  to  his  heart,  inseparable  from  it.  So  far, 
all  is  dependent  on  his  will  and  choice ;  but  to  bring 
the  mercy  of  God  does  not  stand  in  his  will  or 
choice.  He  has  now  laid  himself  bare  to  the 
breathings  of  that  mercy,  and  nothing  remains  but 
to  wait  what  God  will  open  to  him,  as  God  has  done 
after  this  manner  to  prophets  and  saints.  If  he 
follows  the  above  course,  he  may  be  sure  that  the 
light  of  the  Real  will  shine  out  in  his  heart.  At 


124       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEB  GOD 

first  unstable,  like  a  flash  of  lightning,  it  turns  and 
returns;  though  sometimes  it  hangs  back.  And  if 
it  returns,  sometimes  it  abides  and  sometimes  it  is 
momentary.  And  if  it  abides,  sometimes  its  abid- 
ing is  long,  and  sometimes  short." 

Such  is  the  teaching  of  Al-Ghazali  in  regard  to 
the  true  life  of  devotion  and  such  we  may  believe 
was  his  own  practice  at  Damascus  and  Jerusalem 
during  the  years  that  followed  his  life  of  exile — the 
endless  repetition  of  God's  great  names  and 
"prayer  without  ceasing"  in  the  Moslem  sense. 
One  wonders  what  part  of  the  day  remained  for 
the  literary  work  and  teaching  in  which  we  know 
he  was  also  engaged.1 

An  interesting  story  is  told  of  his  life  at  Jeru- 
salem in  these  words:  "There  came  together  the 
Imams  Abu  Hamid  Al-Ghazali  and  Ismail  Al- 
Kakimi  and  Ibrahim  Ash-Shibaki  and  Abu-1-Hasan 
Al-Basri,  and  a  large  number  of  foreign  elders,  in 
the  Cradle  of  'Isa  (upon  him  be  peace!)  in  Jeru- 
salem, and  he  (Al-Ghazali,  apparently)  recited 
these  two  lines: 

" '  May  I  be  thy  ransom !  were  it  not  for  love  thou 
wouldst  have  ransomed  me,  but  by  the  magic 
of  two  eye-pupils  thou  hast  taken  me  captive. 

1  That  this  method  of  seeking  God  is  still  a  refuge  for 
the  most  earnest  and  sincere  among  Moslems  is  clear  from 
such  books  as  "The  Autobiography  of  Imad-ud-Din  the 
Indian  Convert "  (C.  M.  S.,  London). 


WAKDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    125 

I  came  to  thee  when  my  breast  was  straitened 
through  love,  and  if  thou  hadst  known  how 
was  my  longing,  thou  wouldst  have  come 
to  me/ 

Then  Abu-1-Hasan  Al-Basri  constrained  himself  to 
an  ecstasy  which  affected  those  that  were  present, 
and  eyes  wept  and  garments  were  rent  and  Mo- 
hammed Al-Kazaruni  died  in  the  midst  of  the  as- 
sembly in  ecstasy." 

In  Jerusalem  he  is  said  to  have  written  his  Risalat 
Al-Qudsiya;  and  the  date  of  his  visit  there  must 
have  been  shortly  before  A.  H.  492,  for  in  that  year 
Jerusalem  was  captured  by  the  Crusaders.1 

It  was  natural  for  one  of  Al-Ghazali's  tempera- 
ment to  desire  to  pay  homage  also  at  the  tomb  of 
Abraham,  whom  Moslems  delight  to  call  the 
"  Friend  of  God."  The  religion  of  Islam  is  con- 
tinually called  the  religion  of  Abraham  in  the 
Koran.  Tradition  locates  the  so-called  Machpelah 
Cave  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  present-day  Hebron, 
on  the  edge  of  the  valley,  and  the  mosque  which 
now  stands  there  is  supposed  to  enclose  the  grave. 
Hebron  is  about  seventeen  miles  southwest  of 
Jerusalem.  Before  the  twelfth  century  the  Cave 
of  Machpelah  began  to  attract  visitors  and  pil- 
grims. "  Benjamin  of  Tudela  relates:  'At  Hebron 
there  is  a  large  place  of  worship  called  "  St.  Abra- 

1  Gardner  finds  evidence  that  the  book  mentioned  was  not 
written  there. 


126       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEB  AFTEE  GOD 

ham/'  which  was  previously  a  Jewish  synagogue. 
The  natives  erected  there  six  sepulchres,  which 
they  tell  foreigners  are  those  of  the  Patriarchs  and 
their  wives,  demanding  money  as  a  condition  of 
seeing  them.  If  a  Jew  gives  an  additional  fee  to 
the  keeper  of  the  cave,  an  iron  door  which  dates 
from  the  time  of  our  forefathers  opens,  and  the 
visitor  descends  with  a  lighted  candle.  He  crosses 
two  empty  caves,  and  in  the  third  sees  six  tombs, 
on  which  the  names  of  the  three  Patriarchs  and 
their  wives  are  inscribed  in  Hebrew  characters. 
The  cave  is  filled  with  barrels  containing  bones  of 
people,  which  are  taken  there  as  to  a  sacred  place. 
At  the  end  of  the  field  of  the  Machpelah  stands 
Abraham's  house  with  a  spring  in  front  of  it/  ' 

The  mosque  of  Hebron,  over  the  tomb  of  Abra- 
ham, consists  at  present  of  a  quadrangular  platform 
about  seventy  yards  long  by  thirty-five  wide.  The 
tomb  which  it  covers  is  one  of  the  sites  which  few 
Christian  eyes  have  seen.  It  is  permitted  to  none 
but  Moslems  to  approach  nearer  the  entrance  than 
the  seventh  step  of  the  staircase  along  the  eastern 
wall.2 

1 "  The  Jewish  Encyclopaedia,"  article  "  Machpelah." 
2 A  recent  traveller  says:  "There  is  a  hole  in  the  wall 
which  is  supposed  to  communicate  with  the  cave  below. 
Jews  write  letters  to  Abraham  and  place  them  in  this  hole, 
to  tell  him  how  badly  they  are  being  treated  by  the  Moslems. 
But  the  Moslem  boys  are  said  to  know  that  the  hole  has 
no  great  depth,  and  to  collect  these  letters  and  burn  them 
before  Abraham  has  seen  them." 


u 

rt 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    127 

Hebron  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities  in  the  world 
and  legends  of  all  sorts  have  gathered  about  the 
place.  Even  in  Al-Ghazali's  day  it  was  spoken 
of  as  the  place  of  Adam's  creation  and  death,  the 
scene  of  Abel's  murder,  and  the  place  where  Abra- 
ham made  his  home. 

*  After  Al-Ghazali's  visit  to  Hebron  he  probably 
made  his  pilgrimage  to  Mecca.  Whether  the  jour- 
ney was  made  by  sea  or  by  land,  we  do  not  know. 
In  any  case  it  was  full  of  peril  at  that  period.  Very 
possibly  Al-Ghazali  took  the  long  caravan  journey, 
following  the  route  of  the  Damascus  pilgrimage 
in  our  day.  It  was  considered  proper,  however,  to 
visit  Mecca  first,  and  Medina  on  the  return  jour- 
ney. Al-Ghazali  himself  advises  this  in  his  direc- 
tions for  the  correct  performance  of  the  rites  of 
pilgrimage.1 

In  what  spirit  he  fulfilled  the  rites  we  know  from 
one  of  his  spiritual  teachers  whose  text-book  on 
the  subject  Al-Ghazali  had  mastered.  "A  man 
who  had  just  returned  from  the  pilgrimage  came 
to  Junayd.  Junayd  said:  'From  the  hour  when 
you  first  journeyed  from  your  home  have  you  also 
been  journeying  away  from  all  sins  ? '  He  said 
'  No/  '  Then/  said  Junayd,  '  you  have  made 
no  journey.  At  every  stage  where  you  halted  for 
the  night  did  you  traverse  a  station  on  the  way  to 
God?'  'No,'  he  replied.  'Then,'  said  Junayd, 
'you  have  not  trodden  the  road,  stage  by  stage. 
*Cf.  his  "Ihya"  and  also  his  "Al-Wajiz." 


128       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

When  you  put  on  the  pilgrim's  garb  at  the  proper 
place,  did  you  discard  the  qualities  of  human  nature 
as  you  cast  off  your  clothes?'  'No/  'Then 
you  have  not  put  on  the  pilgrim's  garb.  When 
you  stood  on  'Arafat,  did  you  stand  one  moment 
in  contemplation  of  God  ?  '  *  No.'  *  Then  you 
have  not  stood  at  'Arafat.  When  you  went  to 
Muzdalifa  and  achieved  your  desire,  did  you  re- 
nounce all  sensual  desires?'  'No.'  'Then  you 
have  not  gone  to  Muzdalifa.  When  you  circum- 
ambulated the  Ka'aba,  did  you  behold  the  im- 
material beauty  of  God  in  the  abode  of  purifica- 
tion?' 'No.'  'Then  you  have  not  circum- 
ambulated the  Ka'aba.  When  you  ran  between 
Safa  and  Marwa,  did  you  attain  to  purity  (safa) 
and  virtue  (muruwivat)  ? '  '  No.'  '  Then  you 
have  not  run.  When  you  came  to  Mina,  did  all 
your  wishes  (muna)  cease?'  'No.'  'Then  you 
have  not  yet  visited  Mina.  When  you  reached 
the  slaughter  place  and  offered  sacrifices,  did  you 
sacrifice  the  objects  of  worldly  desire?'  'No/ 
'  Then  you  have  not  sacrificed.  When  you  threw 
the  pebbles,  did  you  throw  away  whatever  sensual 
thoughts  were  accompanying  you  ? '  '  No/  '  Then 
you  have  not  yet  thrown  the  pebbles,  and  you  have 
not  yet  performed  the  pilgrimage/  " 

Such  was  the  mystical  interpretation  of  the  rites 
at  Mecca  taught  by  the  Sufis  to  their  disciples. 

Mecca,  when  Al-Ghazali  made  the  pilgrimage, 
was  under  the  rule  of  the  Sherif  Abu  Hashim 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    129 

(A.  D.  1063-1094:).  Half  a  century  earlier  the 
Karmathians,  perhaps  the  most  fanatic  of  all  Mos- 
lem sects,  had  besieged  Mecca,  captured  the  city, 
murdered  the  pilgrims  by  thousands,  and  carried 
away  the  famous  black  stone  to  Bahrein  on  the 
Persian  Gulf.1  By  taking  away  this  sacred  treas- 
ure they  hoped  to  put  an  end  to  the  pilgrimage,  but 
were  disappointed.  In  A.  D.  950  the  stone  was  re- 
turned for  a  heavy  ransom.8  It  was  because  of 
the  constant  disputes  between  the  Caliphs  of  Bag- 
dad and  Egypt  that  the  defense  of  the  holy  cities 
was  finally  given  into  the  hand  of  the  Sherifs. 

Abu  Hashim  was  a  time-server,  and  cared  more 
for  bribes  than  for  religion,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  Arabian  chroniclers.  In  A.  D.  1070  he 
changed  the  name  of  the  Fatimide  Sultans  for  that 
of  the  Abbassides  at  Friday  prayers,  and  received 
much  bounty.  In  1075  he  sold  the  same  privilege 
to  the  Fatimides,  and  in  1076  to  the  Caliphs  of 
Bagdad.  This  conduct  so  enraged  the  Sultan  of 
Bagdad  that  in  1091  he  sent  bands  of  Turkomans 
against  Mecca. 

Chronicles  of  the  holy  city  during  this  period 
show  that  the  pilgrimage  was  accompanied  by 
grave  dangers  because  of  Bedouin  robbers  as  well 
as  disturbances  in  Mecca  itself.  Sometimes  these 

1 M.  J.  De  Goeje,  "  Memoire  sur  les  Carmathes  du  Bahrain 
et  I^es  Fatimides,"  (Leiden,  1886)  pp.  104-114. 

2  In  the  Ihya  Al-Ghazali  gives  the  prayer  to  be  offered 
when  kissing  the  Black  Stone. 


130       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

uprisings  were  directed  by  Abu  Hashim  himself,  as 
was  the  case  in  A.  D.  1094.  * 

Just  about  the  time  of  Al-Ghazali's  visit,  the 
various  buildings  at  Mecca  and  the  Beit  Allah  it- 
self, had  been  repaired  and  beautified.  The  four 
maqams  or  places  of  prayer  for  the  orthodox  sects 
as  they  now  stand  were  built  in  A.  H.  1074.  The 
place  of  the  Shaft*  sect  to  which  Al-Ghazali  be- 
longed, is  directly  over  the  well  of  Zem  Zem,  to 
which  it  serves  as  an  upper  chamber.  The  build- 
ing, erected  in  1072,  is  in  use  to-day.  The  great 
pulpit  of  white  marble  was  sent  to  Mecca  in  A.  H. 
969  by  the  Sultan  of  Egypt.  It  is  still  in  use. 
Perchance  Al-Ghazali  ascended  these  very  stairs 
and  addressed  the  pilgrims.  In  A.  D.  1030  a  violent 
torrent  swept  over  Mecca,  and  nearly  ruined  the 
Ka'aba.  The  repairs  were  not  finished  until  1040.* 
-With  his  religious  pilgrimage  to  Mecca  and 
Medina  it  seems  that  Al-Ghazali's  life  of  strict 
retirement  ended,  except  for  his  visit  to  Alexandria 
and  beyond.  Apparently  he  proposed  to  make  a 
journey  to  Spain  and  the  great  Sultan  of  the  West, 
Yusuf  bin  Tashfin,  on  whose  behalf  he  had  given 
Fatwas  or  religious  decisions,  but  the  news  of  the 
Sultan's  death  put  an  end  to  his  plans,  according 
to  some  authorities.  Others  say  that  at  this  time 
he  was  summoned  to  teach  again  at  Nishapur. 

1 "  Mekka,"  Dr.  C.  Snouck  Hurgronje,  Vol.  I,  den  Haag, 
1888. 
2  Burton's  "  Pilgrimage,"  Vol.  II,  Appendix,  pp.  323-324- 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH    131 

The  details  of  his  life  during  the  mysterious  ten 
years  of  his  wanderings  are  most  conflicting.  Ac- 
cording to  Abd  al-Ghafir,  a  personal  friend  of  Al- 
Ghazali,  he  went  a  second  time  to  Mecca,  after- 
wards to  Syria,  and  then  wandered  from  shrine  to 
shrine  for  nearly  ten  years.  Next  to  "  The  Confes- 
sions/5 the  best  authority  on  his  life  is  undoubtedly 
this  same  Abd  al-Ghafir.  What  he  tells  us  of  Al- 
Ghazali's  life  must  have  been  gained  from  per- 
sonal knowledge,  or  go  back  immediately  to  Al- 
Ghazali  himself.  "According  to  him,  Al-Ghazali 
set  out  on  pilgrimage  to  Mecca,  then  went  to  Syria, 
and  remained  there  wandering  from  place  to  place 
and  shrine  to  shrine  nearly  ten  years.  At  this  time 
he  composed  several  of  his  works,  the  Ihya  and 
books  abbreviated  from  it,  such  as  the  Arba'in  and 
the  Rasa'il;  besides  labouring  at  his  own  spiritual 
advancement  and  growth  through  the  religious  ex- 
ercises of  the  Sufis.  Then  he  returned  to  his  home 
and  lived  there  a  retired  life  for  some  time,  ab- 
sorbed in  meditation,  but  gradually  becoming  more 
and  more  sought  after  as  a  teacher  and  guide  to 
the  spiritual  life.  At  length  Fakhr  al-Mulk  'Ali  b. 
Nizam  Al-Mulk  Jamal  Ash-Shuhada,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  Wazir  to  Barqiyaruq,  became  Wazir 
to  Sinjar  the  son  of  Malik  Shah  at  Nishapur,  and 
by  him  such  pressure  was  put  on  Al-Ghazali  that  he 
finally  consented  to  resume  teaching  in  the  May- 
rauna  Nizamiyya  Madrasa  there." 

1  Macdonald,  "  The  Life  of  Al-Ghazzali,"  pp.  97-98- 


132       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

We  have  reference  to  but  no  detail  of  Al-Gha- 
zali's  visit  to  Cairo,  the  great  centre  of  Moslem 
architecture  and  learning  in  the  West,  as  Bagdad 
was  in  the  East.  Nor,  strange  to  say,  have  I  found 
reference  in  his  works  to  this  visit.  It  is  possible 
that  he  was  not  received  altogether  with  favour  by 
the  religious  leaders  of  Al-Azhar  at  the  time,  but 
his  reputation  was  already  world-wide,  and  many 
of  his  pupils  at  Bagdad  and  Nishapur  were  from 
Egypt  and  North  Africa. 

At  the  time  of  Al-Ghazali's  visit,  Cairo  was  still 
the  great  centre  of  Arab  civilization,  and  had  all 
the  glory  which  the  Patimid  dynasty  had  bestowed 
upon  it.  The  splendid  palaces  of  the  Caliphs 
formed  the  central  portion  of  the  town.  The 
three  massive  gates  which  still  command  admira- 
tion at  the  present  day,  Bab  Al-Futuh,  Bab  Al- 
Nasr  and  Bab  Az  Zuwaila,  led  into  the  city.  In 
A.  D.  1087  the  walls  were  rebuilt,  and  these  massive 
gateways  constructed  along  with  others  which  are 
no  longer  standing.  In  the  vault  of  the  archways 
of  these  gates,  there  used  to  be  two  chambers,  and 
these  were  used  by  the  Egyptian  sovereigns  and 
their  friends  to  watch  the  various  spectacles,  espe- 
cially the  departure  and  return  of  the  sacred  carpet. 

The  intellectual  and  religious  life  of  the  city 
centred  in  the  great  mosque  of  Al-Azhar,  which 
had  been  completed  in  A.  D.  1012.  Cairo  was  not 
yet  the  economic  centre  for  all  Egypt  which  it  be- 
came later,  but  it  was  the  seat  of  a  splendid  court, 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH   133 

with  military  pageantry,  as  well  as  a  centre  of  re- 
ligious learning.  Ibn  Tuwair  and  others  have 
given  us  vivid  pictures  of  the  ceremonial  proces- 
sions and  festivals,  the  magazines,  treasuries, 
stables,  and  royal  household. 

As  for  Alexandria,  where  we  know  Al-Ghazali 
lived  for  some  time  before  his  return  to  Syria,  it 
did  not  have  a  high  reputation  at  that  time  for 
learning.  It  was  rather  a  port  of  trade,  from 
which  men  passed  on  to  Misr  (Cairo)  or  went  by 
sea  to  Syria.  Hamadhani  makes  one  of  his  char- 
acters say: 

"  I  ?m  of  the  citizens  of  Alexandria, 
Of  sound  and  pure  stock  among  them, 
The  age  and  the  people  thereof  are  stupid, 
Therefore  I  made  my  stupidity  my  steed !  " 

But  in  Moslem  tradition,  Alexandria  has  high 
honour.  Moslems  show  the  tomb  of  Daniel  the 
prophet,  also  that  of  Alexander  the  Great  whose 
story  is  told  in  the  Koran.  Alexandria  also  boasts 
two  celebrated  Walis  or  holy  men.  One  is  Mo- 
hammed al  Busiri,  the  author  of  the  poem  called 
Al  Burdah,  universally  celebrated;  and  the  other 
Abu  Abbas  Al-Andalusi,  at  whose  tomb  prayer  is 
never  offered  in  vain.  There  is  also  a  prophecy 
that  when  Mecca  falls  into  the  hands  of  the  in- 
fidels Alexandria  will  succeed  to  its  honours.1 

1  Burton's  "  Pilgrimage  to  Al-Medinah  and  Meccah,"  Vol. 

I,  P.  12. 


134       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

From  Alexandria  Al-Ghazali  went  to  Damascus 
and  then  to  Nishapur  and  from  there  to  Bagdad,  or 
from  Damascus  direct  to  Bagdad,  where  he  taught 
the  Ihya  and  preached.  As-Subki  tells  us  that  the 
people  crowded  to  hear  him,  and  that  notes  of  his 
sermons  to  the  number  of  183  were  taken  by  one 
of  those  present,  who  read  them  to  Al-Ghazali  be- 
fore they  were  circulated. 

The  following  story  is  told  of  his  life  at  this 
time:  Once  while  teaching  the  Ihya  at  Bagdad,  he 
began  to  quote:  "  He  has  made  beloved  the  homes 
of  men,  as  abodes  of  desire  which  the  heart  has 
decreed;  whenever  they  remember  their  homes 
these  remind  them  of  the  pledges  of  youth  there, 
and  they  long  thither."  Then  he  wept,  and  those 
present  wept  with  him.  Thereafter  some  one  saw 
him  in  the  open  country  with  a  patched  dervish- 
garment  on,  a  water-vessel  and  an  iron-shod  staff 
in  his  hand, — all  in  strange  contrast  to  the  states  in 
which  he  had  seen  him  before,  with  three  hundred 
pupils  around  him,  including  one  hundred  of  the 
chief  men  of  Bagdad.  So  he  said,  "  O  Imam,  is 
not  the  teaching  of  science  more  fitting?"  But 
Al-Ghazali  looked  at  him  with  red  *eyes  and  said, 
"  When  the  full  moon  of  happiness  rises  in  the 
firmament  of  will,  the  sun  of  setting  departs  in  the 
East  of  union."  Then  he  recited,  "  I  abandoned 
the  love  of  Layla  and  my  happiness  was  far,  and  I 
returned  to  the  companionship  of  my  first  alight- 
ing-place ;  then  cried  to  me  my  longings,  '  Wei- 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH   135 

come !  these  are  the  alighting-places  of  her  whom 
thou  lovest,  draw  up  and  alight.' ' 

Of  his  spiritual  experiences  during  these  ten 
years  of  retirement  and  wandering,  and  during  the 
years  that  followed,  when  he  taught  others  the  way 
of  the  mystic,  we  will  speak  later. 

We  know  that  he  left  Bagdad,  returned  to  Tus, 
his  native  place,  and  settled  down  to  study  and  con- 
templation. Strange  to  say,  at  this  time  of  his  life 
he  seems  to  have  found  the  greatest  delight  in  go- 
ing back  again  to  the  study  of  Tradition,  especially 
the  collections  of  Al-Bokhari  and  of  Muslim.  All 
his  biographers  seem  to  agree  in  this.  He  had 
charge  of  a  madrasa  .and  of  the  khanka  or  monas- 
tery for  Sufis.  Every  moment  was  filled  with 
study  and  devotion  until  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of 
his  life  (lunar  calendar)  the  end  came. 

The  austerity  and  privations  of  his  long  wan- 
derings doubtless  wore  down  his  strength.  One 
who  had  risen  to  so  high  a  position  of  authority 
on  religious  matters  also  had  to  pay  the  price  of 
leadership  in  controversy  with  opponents,  and  of 
their  envy,  and  their  slander,  as  we  are  told  by  al- 
Ghafir.  This  may  have  been,  Macdonald  thinks, 
one  of  the  causes  for  his  removal  from  Nishapur  to 
Tus.  A  friend  remarks  in  regard  to  his  attitude 
towards  those  who  opposed  his  teaching  and  envied 
his  influence:  "  However  much  he  met  of  contra- 
diction and  attack  and  slander,  it  made  no  impres- 
sion on  him,  and  he  did  not  trouble  himself  to  an- 


136       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

swer  his  assailants.  I  visited  him  many  times,  and 
it  was  no  bare  conjecture  of  mine  that  he,  in  spite 
of  what  I  saw  in  him  in  time  past  of  maliciousness 
and  roughness  towards  people,  and  how  he  looked 
upon  them  contemptuously  through  his  being  led 
astray  by  what  God  had  granted  him  of  ease  in 
word  and  thought  and  expression,  and  through  the 
seeking  of  rank  and  position,  had  come  to  be  the 
very  opposite  and  was  purified  from  these  stains. 
And  I  used  to  think  that  he  was  wrapping  himself 
in  the  garment  of  pretense,  but  I  realized  after  in- 
vestigation that  the  thing  was  the  opposite  of  what 
I  had  thought,  and  that  the  man  had  recovered 
after  being  mad." 

^  Al-Ghazali  died  on  Monday,  the  fourteenth  of 
Jumada  II,  A.  H.  505  (Dec.  18th,  1111).  His  brother 
Ahmad  (quoted  by  Murtadha  from  Ibn  Jawzi's 
Kitab  ath-thdbat  'ind-al-mamat)  gives  the  follow- 
ing account  of  his  death:  "  On  Monday,  at  dawn, 
my  brother  performed  the  ablution  and  prayed. 
Then  he  said,  '  Bring  me  my  grave-clothes/  and  he 
took  them  and  kissed  them  and  laid  them  on  his 
eyes  and  said,  '  I  hear  and  obey  to  go  in  to  the 
King/  And  he  stretched  out  his  feet  towards 
Mecca,  and  was  taken  to  the  good  will  of  God 
Most  High.  He  was  buried  at,  or  outside  of, 
Tabran,  the  citadel  of  Tus,  and  Ibn  As-Sama'ni 
visited  his  grave  there." 

Later  biographers  were  not  satisfied  with  the 
bare  facts  of  his  decease.     Murtadha  gives  a  far 


WANDERINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH   137 

more  interesting  story.  "  When  death  drew  near 
to  the  Imam  Abu  Hamid  Al-Ghazali,  he  com- 
manded his  servant,  an  excellent  and  religious  man, 
to  dig  his  grave  in  the  middle  of  his  house,  and  to 
summon  the  people  of  the  neighbouring  villages  to 
attend  his  funeral ;  that  they  should  not  touch  him, 
but  that  a  company  of  three  men  unknown  in  the 
region  of  Al-'Iraq  would  come  out  of  the  desert, 
that  two  of  them  would  wash  him,  and  the  third 
would  undertake  the  prayer  over  him  without  the 
advice  or  command  of  any  one.  Then,  when  he 
died,  the  servant  did  according  to  all  that  he  had 
commanded,  and  required  the  presence  of  the  peo- 
ple. And  when  the  people  gathered  to  attend  the 
funeral,  they  saw  three  men  who  had  come  out  of 
the  desert.  Two  of  them  began  to  wash  the  corpse, 
while  the  third  vanished  and  did  not  appear.  But 
when  they  had  washed  him  and  arranged  him  in 
the  grave-clothes,  and  carried  his  bier  and  laid  it 
on  the  edge  of  the  grave,  the  third  appeared 
wrapped  in  his  robe  with  a  black  border  on  both 
sides,  turbaned  with  wool,  and  he  prayed  for  him 
and  the  people  prayed  with  him.  Then  he  gave  the 
benediction  and  departed  and  hid  from  the  people. 
And  some  of  the  excellent  of  the  people  of  Al-'Iraq 
who  were  present  at  the  funeral  had  noticed  him 
carefully,  but  did  not  know  him  until  some  of  them 
heard  a  Hatif  in  the  night  saying  to  them,  '  The 
man  who  led  the  people  in  prayer  is  Abu  'Abd 
Allah  Mohammed  b.  Ishaq  Amghar,  the  Sharif. 


138       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

He  came  from  the  farthest  Maghrib,  from  'Ayn 
al-Qatr,  and  those  who  washed  the  corpse  are  his 
comrades  Abu  Shu'ayb  Ayyub  b.  Sa'id  and  Abu 
'Isa  Wajih.'  And  when  they  heard  that  they 
journeyed  from  Al-'Iraq  to  Sanhaja  of  the  farthest 
Maghrib,  and  when  they  had  reached  them  and 
asked  of  them  their  prayers,  they  returned  to  Al- 
'Iraq  and  related  it  to  the  Sufis  and  published  their 
miracle  (karama).  Then  a  company  of  them, 
when  they  heard  that,  went  to  visit  them  and  found 
them  to  be  those  whom  they  noticed  carefully,  and 
they  asked  of  them  their  prayers.  And  this  is  a 
strange  story." 

An  equally  remarkable  story  is  told  of  the  death 
of  Al-Ghazali's  younger  brother  in  the  books  of  the 
Persian  mystics.1  The  verses  given  might  well  ap- 
ply to  Al-Ghazali  himself  and  his  views  of  life  and 
death.  "  Moghith  related,  on  the  authority  of 
Kadiri  tradition,  how  the  famous  Ahmed-Al- 
Ghazali,  native  of  Tus  in  Persia,  said  one  day  to 
his  disciples,  '  Go  and  bring  me  new  and  white 
garments/  They  went;  and  on  returning  with  the 
objects  required,  found  their  master  dead;  by  his 
side  was  a  paper  on  which  were  written  the  follow- 
ing stanzas: 

" '  Tell  my  friends,  who  behold  me  dead, 
Weeping  and  mourning  my  loss  a  while, 

aMacdonald's   "Life  of   Al-Ghazzali,"   pp.    105,    107-108, 
quoted  from  Murtadha. 
2  Quoted  in  Hayat-ul-Hayawan. 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEARS,  DEATH    139 

Think  not  this  corpse  before  you  myself : 

That  corpse  is  mine,  but  it  is  not  I. 

I  am  an  undying  life,  and  this  is  not  my  body, 

Many  years  my  house  and  my  garment  of  change; 

I  am  the  bird,  and  this  body  was  my  cage, 

I  have  wing'd  my  flight  elsewhere,  and  left  it  for 

a  token. 

I  am  the  pearl,  and  this  my  shell, 
Broken  open  and  abandon'd  to  worthlessness ; 
I  am  the  treasure,  and  this  was  a  spell 
Thrown  over  me,  till  the  treasure  was  released  in 

truth. 

Thanks  be  to  God,  who  has  delivered  me, 
And  has  assigned  me  a  lasting  abode  in  the  highest. 
There  am  I  now  the  day  conversing  with  the  happy, 
And  beholding  face  to  face  unveiled  Deity ; 
Contemplating  the  Mirror  wherein  I  see  and  read 
Past  and  present,  and  whatever  remains  to  be. 
Food  and  drink  too  are  mine,  yet  both  are  one ; 
Mystery  known  to  him  who  is  worthy  to  know. 
It  is  not  "  wine  sweet  of  taste  "  that  I  drink ; 
No,  nor  "  water,"  but  the  pure  milk  of  a  mother. 
Understand  my  meaning  aright,  for  the  secret 
Is  signified  by  words  of  symbol  and  figure, — 
I  have  journey'd  on,  and  left  you  behind; 
How  could  I  make  an  abode  of  your  halting-stage? 
Ruin  then  my  house  and  break  my  cage  in  pieces, 
And  let  the  shell  go  perish  with  kindred  illusions ; 
Tear  my  garment,  the  veil  once  thrown  over  me ; 
Then  bury  all  these,  and  leave  them  alike  for  I  go. 
Deem  not  death  death,  for  it  is  in  truth 
Life  of  lives,  the  goal  of  all  our  longings. 


140     A  MOSLEM    SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Think  lovingly  of  a  God  whose  Name  is  love, 
Who  joys  in  rewarding,  and  come  on  secure  of  fear. 
Whence  I  am,  I  behold  you  undying  spirits  like 

myself, 
And  see  that  our  lot  is  one,  and  you  as  I.'  " 

We  are  indebted  to  the  Rev.  Dwight  M.  Donald- 
son of  Mashad,  Persia,  for  the  interesting  photo- 
graphs of  the  ruins  of  Tus  and  of  the  supposed 
tomb  of  Al-Ghazali.  The  mosque  is  very  old  and 
probably  dates  from  the  time  of  Al-Ghazali.  The 
grave  shown  in  the  picture,  however,  may  not  be 
the  grave  of  Al-Ghazali  the  mystic  but  of  another 
celebrated  Ghazali.  For  we  read  in  As-Subqi  (Vol. 
Ill,  p.  36)  that  there  was  one  called  Ahmed  ibn 
Mohammed  Abu  Hamed  Al-Ghazali,  the  older  and 
earlier  one.  He  says  that  people  have  thrown 
doubt  upon  his  very  existence,  but  that  after  care- 
ful inquiry  he  has  found  mention  of  this  man  in 
several  books,  including  the  Kitab  Al  Ansdb  of  Ibn 
As-Sam'ani.  He  mentions  the  fact  that  this  man 
also  lived  in  Khorasan,  was  celebrated  for  his 
learning,  wrote  books  on  theological  questions,  and 
was  buried  at  Tus,  where  his  grave  was  well 
known;  and  because  of  this  people  called  him  the 
Old  Ghazali,  and  used  to  come  to  his  grave  in  or- 
der to  obtain  answers  to  their  prayers.  He  thinks 
that  this  Ghazali  was  either  the  uncle  or  the  grand- 
uncle  of  Al-Ghazali,  whose  biography  we  have 
written.  Incidentally  we  may  conclude  from  this 
statement  of  As-Subqi  that  the  name  of  Al-Ghazali 


WANDERINGS,  LATEE  TEAES,  DEATH   141 

was  not  given  to  him  because  his  father  was  a 
spinner  of  wool !  It  must  have  been  an  old  family 
name. 

Mr.  Donaldson  gives  this  interesting  informa- 
tion: "  The  walls  of  the  old  city  of  Tus  still  stand. 
It  is  one  farsakh  around  them,  three  and  a  third 
miles.  There  are  many  fragments  of  towers  and 
in  nine  places  there  are  remains  of  gates.  The 
wall  was  originally  five  yards  wide.  In  the  largest 
cemetery  the  tombstone  of  Ahmad  Ghazali  may 
still  be  seen.  This  cemetery  lies  southwest  from 
the  city  and  while  the  bulk  of  it  is  now  under  culti- 
vation, the  more  distant  part  that  lies  on  the  higher 
ground  beyond  the  waterway  has  been  kept  a 
cemetery. 

"The  picture  I  have  enclosed  of  Ghazali's  tomb  is 
not  as  satisfactory  as  I  would  have  liked.  It  shows 
that  a  large  chip  has  been  taken  from  one  corner 
of  the  grave.  The  stone  is  about  two  yards  long, 
one-third  yard  wide,  and  one-third  yard  high. 
There  are  positive  indications  of  an  effort  having 
been  made  to  cut  off  the  portion  on  which  the  name 
of  Ahmed  Al-Ghazali  appears.  It  is  the  part  that 
is  chipped  in  the  picture.  About  at  the  point  where 
the  chipping  appears  to  begin  there  is  a  straight  line 
cut  about  one  inch  deep  across  the  top  of  the  stone. 

"  On  the  road  that  runs  through  the  city  from  the 
southwest  gate  the  old  mosque  is  imposing  even  in 
its  ruined  condition.  It  stands  eighteen  yards  high 
and  the  inner  measurements  show  it  to  consist  of 


142      A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

a  square  base,  five  yards  high,  then  an  octagonal 
structure  eight  yards  high.  (See  illustration.) 

"  Outside  the  southwest  gate  an  ancient  bridge  is 
still  in  use,  as  caravans  from  Mashad  come  through 
the  old  city  of  Tus.  This  bridge  has  eight  arches, 
each  four  and  one-half  yards  wide.  The  name  of 
the  stream  is  the  Kashf  Rud. 

"The  fortress  itself  is  interesting;  it  is  sur- 
rounded by  a  moat  and  a  wall,  within  which  lies  a 
large  courtyard  and  the  high  approach  to  the  fort  it- 
self. At  present  we  could  walk  around  the  wall  and 
approach  the  fort  by  a  passage  in  the  rear.  In  the 
courtyard  they  are  now  raising  the  best  water- 
melons we  have  eaten  in  Persia.  Four  gigantic 
corner  fragments  of  the  fort  are  now  standing.  In 
the  midst  of  the  debris  of  bricks  within  these  old 
walls  we  found  interesting  fragments  of  pottery." 

In  another  letter  from  Mashad,  Persia,  dated 
January  17,  1917,  the  Rev.  Dwight  M.  Donaldson 
writes :  "  This  week  I  made  another  trip  to  Tus, 
carefully  examining  again  the  tombstone  of 
Ghazali.  As  I  wrote  you  before,  the  stone  has 
been  badly  worn  and  in  addition  to  that  has  been 
mutilated.  However,  on  the  point  of  doubt  as  to 
whether  the  stone  photographed  was  really  the  one 
marking  Mohammed  Al-Ghazali's  tomb,  or  the 
tomb  of  another  Ahmad  Al-Ghazali,  I  can  now  say 
that  I  believe  it  is  the  tomb  of  Abu  Hamed  ibn 
Mohammed  ibn  Mohammed  ibn  Mohammed  Al- 
Ghazali,  for  the  reason  that  we  can  clearly  read 


WANDEEINGS,  LATEE  YEAES,  DEATH   143 

on  the  corner  of  the  top  of  the  stone,  the  end 
which  some  one  in  times  past  attempted  to  cut  off, 
the  name  <J>£  and  k*.  And  as  one  studies  the 
stone  he  is  almost  willing  to  declare  that  the 
name  is  fully  intelligible  with  the  exception  of 
the  initial  aleph.  The  whole  top  is  badly  worn  in- 
deed, but  the  word  that  my  mirza  first  read  as 
Ahmad  is  clearly  not  Ahmad,  but  what  it  is  we 
cannot  tell.  The  damage  is  too  complete. 

"  You  will  notice  that  Ghazzali  appears  in  the 
stone  to  have  been  spelled  with  a  tashdeed  and  yet 
the  mark  we  have  considered  a  tashdeed  is  not  the 
usual  form  (v  instead  of  w)." 

This  investigation,  therefore,  would  seem  to 
settle  two  points :  that  we  have  at  Tus  the  neglected 
and  mutilated  grave  of  the  great  mystic  and  theo- 
logian, Al-Ghazali;  and  that  on  this  grave  the 
middle  letter  of  the  name  is  double.  In  view  of 
the  common  usage,  however,  and  in  deference  to 
the  authorities  of  Moslems  themselves,  we  have 
uniformly  written  Ghazali. 


V 
His  Creed  and  Credulity 


"This  man,  (Al-Ghazali)  if  ever  any  have  de- 
served the  name,  was  truly  a  '  divine/  and  he  may  be 
justly  placed  on  a  level  with.  Origen,  so  remarkable 
was  he  for  learning  and  ingenuity,  and  gifted  with 
such  a  rare  faculty  for  the  skilful  and  worthy  exposi- 
tion of  doctrine.  All  that  is  good,  noble,  and  sublime 
that  his  great  soul  had  compassed  he  bestowed  upon 
Mohammedanism,  and  he  adorned  the  doctrines  of 
the  Koran  with  so  much  piety  and  learning  that,  in 
the  form  given  them  by  him,  they  seem,  in  my  opinion, 
worthy  the  assent  of  Christians.  Whatsoever  was 
most  excellent  in  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle  or  in  the 
Sufic  mysticism  he  discreetly  adapted  to  the  Moham- 
medan theology;  from  every  school  he  sought  the 
means  of  shedding  light  and  honour  upon  religion; 
while  his  sincere  piety  and  lofty  conscientiousness 
imparted  to  all  his  writings  a  sacred  majesty.  He 
was  the  first  of  Mohammedan  divines." 

— Dr.  August  Tholuck. 


V 

HIS  CREED  AND  CREDULITY 

ALTHOUGH,  according  to  his  own  testi- 
mony in  his  "  Confessions/'  Al-Ghazali 
was  troubled  from  his  earliest  years  with 
doubt  and  scepticism,  he  was  not  willing  to  yield 
to  it,  and  his  faith  rose  triumphant  above  all  his 
doubts.  This  is  one  of  the  outstanding  facts  in 
his  biography.  He  could  say  with  the  writer  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  that  "  faith  is  the  sub- 
stance of  things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of 
things  not  seen."  Not  only  did  he  find  God  in 
nature  and  in  his  own  conscience  and  conscious- 
ness, but  he  was  a  firm  believer  in  revelation. 
Naturally  the  only  revelation  to  which  Al-Ghazali 
turned  as  the  basis,  the  very  bed-rock  of  religious 
faith,  was  the  Koran,  the  eternal,  uncreated  word 
of  God  according  to  Moslem  teaching;  and  also 
to  the  life  of  the  Prophet  Mohammed,  his  prac- 
tices and  his  precepts  handed  down  in  orthodox 
Tradition — this  also  was  a  revelation  from  God. 

Whether  he  ever  read  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment is  a  question  we  consider  unanswered.  He 
did  not  draw  his  creed  from  this  source. 

Al-Ghazali  gives  the  distinction  very  clearly,  al- 


148       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

most  as  clearly  as  the  Epistle  of  James,  between 
faith  and  works.  He  was  a  dogmatic  theologian 
and  laid  down,  as  we  shall  see  in  this  chapter,  with 
punctilious  care  every  point  of  dogma ;  but  he  was 
also  a  moralist  and  a  man  of  high  ideals  which  he 
sought  to  attain  through  prayer  and  fasting  and 
pilgrimage,  and  a  life  of  utter  devotion  to  the  will 
of  God.  His  faith  was  living  and  practical,  not 
theoretical  and  scholastic.  In  his  great  work,  the 
Ihya,  he  discusses  the  whole  subject  of  faith,  and 
enumerates  the  following  classes  of  believers: 

"  He  who  combines  inner  belief  with  outward 
confession  and  good  works  is  a  true  believer  and 
enters  Paradise. 

"  He  who  combines  inner  belief  with  outward 
confession  and  some  good  works  but  commits  one 
or  more  great  sins,  does  not  thereby  cease  to  be  a 
believer,  though  his  faith  is  not  of  the  highest  de- 
gree. The  Mu'tazila  deny  that  such  a  one  can  be 
considered  a  believer,  but  that  nevertheless  by  com- 
mitting deadly  sins  he  does  not  become  an  un- 
believer but  is  in  an  intermediate  state  between  a 
believer  and  an  infidel.  An  infidel  is  an  impious 
person  and  goes  into  everlasting  hell-fire." 

The  opinions  with  regard  to  the  person  who  com- 
bines inner  belief  with  outward  confession,  but  has 
no  good  works  are  divided.  Abu  Talibu'l  Makki 
says:  "  Good  works  are  part  of  the  faith,  and  faith 
cannot  exist  without  them."  The  Sunni  doctors 
of  Islam,  however,  reject  this  opinion  as  absolutely 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDTILITY          149 

false,  for  they  say  that  it  is  a  truth  accepted  by 
general  agreement,  that  a  man  who  believes  and 
confesses  and  dies  before  he  has  done  any  good 
work,  is  a  true  believer  and  enters  Paradise;  that 
good  works  cannot  consequently  be  considered  as 
a  necessary  part  of  faith,  and  that  faith  can  exist 
without  them. 

"  He  who  believes  in  his  heart,  but  dies  before  he 
has  either  confessed  or  performed  good  works,  is 
nevertheless  a  true  believer  and  enters  into  Para- 
dise. Those  who  consider  confession  a  necessary 
part  of  faith  naturally  consider  that  such  a  one  has 
died  without  faith,  an  opinion  absolutely  contrary 
to  the  Sunni  dogma. 

"  He  who  believes  in  his  heart,  and  has  time  and 
opportunity  of  confessing,  and  knows  that  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Moslem  to  do  so,  and  does  not  confess 
his  faith,  is  nevertheless  a  believer  in  the  sight  of 
God,  and  will  not  be  cast  into  everlasting  hell-fire, 
for  faith  is  the  mere  belief,  intellectual  conviction 
and  assent,  and  this  belief  does  not  cease  to  exist 
through  the  want  of  outward  confession.  Such  a 
man  is  a  believer  in  the  sight  of  God,  but  an  un- 
believer in  this  world  before  the  court  of  justice 
and  with  regard  to  the  rights  of  Moslems.  In  case 
of  an  impediment  of  the  tongue,  a  sign  with  the 
hand  is  as  good  as  confession  with  the  tongue. 
The  sect  of  the  Murji'a  go  too  far  by  saying  that  a 
believer,  even  if  he  act  wickedly,  will  never  enter 
hell-fire.  The  orthodox  doctrine  on  this  subject 


150       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

is  that  every  one,  even  the  most  perfect  believer, 
will  enter  hell-fire,  for  no  one  is  free  from  com- 
mitting some  sins,  for  which  he  must  enter  fire; 
only  infidels,  however,  will  remain  in  it  forever." 

"  He  who  confesses  with  the  tongue  saying: 
'  There  is  no  God  but  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His 
apostle/  but  does  not  believe  it  in  his  heart  is  an 
infidel  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  will  be  cast  into 
eternal  hell-fire.  In  this  world,  however,  he  is  to 
be  considered  and  treated  as  a  believer  and  a  Mos- 
lem, for  man  cannot  penetrate  into  the  secrets  of 
the  heart,  and  the  confession  of  the  mouth  must  be 
taken  to  be  the  interpreter  of  the  thoughts  of  the 
heart.  In  order,  however,  to  make  a  man  a  Mos- 
lem in  this  world,  before  the  law,  in  the  sight  of 
the  Qadi,  confession  is  necessary." 

Not  only  does  he  classify  believers  in  this  care- 
ful way,  but  he  also  discusses  the  question,  in  the 
first  book  of  his  Ihya,  whether  Islam  is  the  same 
thing  as  iman  (faith)  or  not,  and  if  these  two  are 
not  the  same  thing,  can  they  exist  separately  or 
must  they  necessarily  be  combined  ?  "  Some  say 
that  Islam  and  Iman  are  synonymous  term^and 
that  consequently  every  believer  is  a  Moslem  and 
every  Moslem  a  believer."  This  is  the  opinion 
held  by  the  orthodox  school.  Others  say  that  they 
are  distinct  things  but  joined  together.  Al-Ghazali 
answers  this  difficult  question  in  this  way:  Iman 
(Faith),  from  the  linguistic  point  of  view,  means 
belief,  intellectual  conviction  and  assent;  Islam 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          151 

means  submission,  subjection,  obedience.  The  seat 
of  Iman  is  the  heart  or  mind,  and  the  tongue  is  its 
interpreter.  Islam  comprises  belief  with  the  heart 
and  confession  with  the  tongue,  and  good  works 
by  the  members  of  the  body,  and  is  consequently 
a  more  comprehensive  term  than  Iman.  Iman  is 
one  of  the  component  parts  of  Islam,  and  Islam, 
therefore,  includes  it;  but  Iman,  being  a  more  re- 
stricted term,  does  not  include  Islam.  From  a 
linguistic  point  of  view  the  two  terms  are  therefore 
not  synonymous.  From  the  point  of  view  of  the 
law  and  religion,  and  in  a  theological  sense  the  two 
terms  are  sometimes  used  as  being  synonymous, 
and  sometimes  as  having  different  meanings  and  as 
being  intermingled,  comprised  in  each  other.  Iman 
and  Islam  are  found  in  the  individual  who  believes 
in  his  heart  and  outwardly  observes  the  precepts  of 
Islam;  Islam  exists  separately  in  the  individual, 
who  only  believes  in  his  heart;  but  neither  con- 
fesses, nor  does  good  works,  and  Islam  exists  sepa- 
rately in  him  who  outwardly  observes  the  precepts 
of  Islam,  without  inner  belief. 

What  the  faith  of  Islam  meant  to  Al-Ghazali  we 
know  from  all  his  works,  especially  from  the  Ihya, 
which  besides  other  topics  gives  a  full  exposition 
of  Moslem  belief  in  regard  to  the  six  articles  of 
their  creed  and  the  five  pillars  of  practice.  The 
reader  may  judge  for  himself  both  the  contents  and 
omissions  of  Al-Ghazali's  credo  from  the  following 
brief  exposition  which  he  wrote  for  his  pupils: 


152       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

HIS  CREED1 

"  We  say — and  in  God  is  our  trust — Praise  be- 
longeth  unto  God,  the  Beginner,  the  Bringer-back, 
the  Doer  of  what  He  willeth,  the  Lord  of  the  Glori- 
ous Throne  and  of  Mighty  Grasp,  the  Guider  of 
Jlis  chosen  creatures  to  the  right  path  and  to  the 
true  way,  the  Granter  of  benefits  to  them  after  the 
witness  to  the  Unity  (tawhid)  by  guarding  their 
articles  of  belief  from  obscurities  of  doubt  and  op- 
position. He  that  bringeth  them  to  follow  His 
Apostle,  the  Chosen  one  (Al-Mustafa)  and  to  imi- 
tate the  traces  of  His  Companions,  the  most  hon- 
oured, through  His  aid  and  right  guidance  revealed 
to  them  in  His  essence  and  His  works  by  His  beau- 
tiful qualities  which  none  perceives,  save  he  who 
inclines  his  ear.  He  is  the  witness  who  maketh 
known  to  them  that  He  in  His  essence  is  One  with- 
out any  partner  (sharik).  Single  without  any 
similar,  Eternal  without  any  opposite,  Separate 
without  any  like.  He  is  One,  Prior  (qadim)  with 
nothing  before  Him,  from  eternity  (azali)  without 
any  beginning,  abiding  in  existence  with  none  after 
Him,  to  eternity  (abadi)  without  any  end,  substi- 

*An  exposition  of  the  Creed  of  the  People  of  the  Sunna 
on  the  two  Words  of  Witnessing  (kalimatai  'sh-shahada) 
which  form  one  of  the  foundations  of  Islam.  This  creed  is 
intended  to  be  committed  to  memory  by  children.  It  forms 
the  first  section  of  the  second  book  of  Ghazali's  Ihya,  VoL 
II,  pp.  17-42  of  edit,  of  Cairo  with  commentary  of  the 
Sayyid  Murtadha.  We  are  indebted  for  the  translation  to 
Professor  Macdonald  (Muslim  Theology  and  Jurisprudence)'* 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          153 

tuting  without  ending,  abiding  without  termination. 
He  hath  not  ceased  and  He  will  not  cease  to  be 
described  with  glorious  epithets ;  finishing  and  end- 
ing, though  the  cutting  off  of  the  ages  and  the  ter- 
minating of  allotted  times  have  no  rule  over  Him, 
but  He  is  the  First  and  Last,  the  External  and  the 
Internal,  and  He  knoweth  everything. 

"  We  witness  that  He  is  not  a  body  possessing 
form,  nor  a  substance  possessing  bounds  and  lim- 
its; He  does  not  resemble  bodies,  either  in  limita- 
tion or  in  accepting  division.  He  is  not  a  substance 
and  substances  do  not  exist  in  Him ;  and  He  is  not 
an  accident  and  accidents  do  not  exist  in  Him,  nay 
He  does  not  resemble  an  entity,  and  no  entity  re- 
sembles Him;  nothing  is  like  Him  and  He  is  not 
like  anything;  measure  does  not  bound  Him  and 
boundaries  do  not  contain  Him;  the  directions  do 
not  surround  Him  and  neither  the  earth  nor  the 
Heavens  are  on  different  sides  of  Him.  Lo,  He 
is  seated  firmly  upon  His  throne  ('arsh),  after  the 
manner  which  He  has  said,  and  in  the  sense  in 
which  He  willed  a  being-seated  firmly  (istawa), 
which  is  far  removed  from  contact  and  fixity  of 
location  and  being  established  and  being  enveloped 
and  being  removed.  The  Throne  does  not  carry 
Him,  but  the  Throne  and  those  that  carry  it  are 
carried  by  the  grace  of  His  power  and  mastered  by 
His  grasp.  He  is  above  the  Throne  and  the 
Heavens  and  above  everything  unto  the  limit  of  the 
Pleiades,  with  an  aboveness  which  does  not  bring 


154        A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Him  nearer  to  the  Throne  and  the  Heavens,  just  as 
it  does  not  make  Him  further  from  the  earth  and 
the  Pleiades.  Nay,  He  is  exalted  by  degrees  from 
the  Throne  and  the  Heavens,  just  as  He  is  exalted 
by  degrees  from  the  earth  and  the  Pleiades;  and 
He,  in  spite  of  that,  is  near  to  every  entity  and 
is  '  nearer  to  a  creature  than  the  artery  of  his  neck ' 
(Koran  50,  15),  and  He  witnesseth  everything, 
since  His  nearness  does  not  resemble  the  nearness 
of  bodies,  just  as  His  essence  does  not  resemble  the 
essence  of  bodies.  He  does  not  exist  in  anything, 
just  as  nothing  exists  in  Him ;  He  has  exalted  Him- 
self far  therefrom  that  a  place  should  contain  Him, 
just  as  He  has  sanctified  Himself  far  therefrom 
that  time  should  limit  Him.  Nay,  He  was  before 
He  had  created  Time  and  Place  and  He  is  now 
above  that  which  He  was  above,  and  distinct  from 
His  creatures  through  His  qualities.  There  is  not 
in  His  essence  His  equal,  nor  in  His  equal  His  es- 
sence. He  is  far  removed  from  change  of  state  or 
of  place.  Events  have  no  place  in  Him,  and  mis- 
haps do  not  befall  Him.  Nay,  He  does  not  cease, 
through  His  glorious  epithets,  to  be  far  removed 
from  changing,  and  through  His  perfect  qualities 
to  be  independent  of  perfecting  increase.  The  ex- 
istence of  His  essence  is  known  by  reason ;  His  es- 
sence is  seen  with  the  eyes,  a  benefit  from  Him  and 
a  grace  to  the  pious,  in  the  Abiding  Abode  and  a 
completion  in  beatitude  from  Him,  through  gazing 
upon  His  gracious  face. 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          155 

"  We  witness  that  He  is  living,  powerful,  com- 
manding, conquering ;  inadequacy  and  weakness  be- 
fall Him  not;  slumber  seizes  Him  not,  nor  sleep. 
Passing  away  does  not  happen  to  Him,  nor  death. 
He  is  Lord  of  the  Worlds,  the  Visible  and  the  In- 
visible, that  of  Force  and  that  of  Might;  He  pos- 
sesses Rule  and  Conquest  and  Creation  and  Com- 
mand ;  the  heavens  are  rolled  in  His  right  hand  and 
the  created  things  are  overcome  in  His  grasp;  He 
is  separate  in  creating  and  inventing ;  He  is  one  in 
bringing  into  existence  and  innovating ;  He  created 
the  creation  and  their  works  and  decreed  their  sus- 
tenance and  their  terms  of  life;  not  a  decreed  thing 
escapes  His  grasp  and  the  mutations  of  things  are 
not  distant  from  His  power ;  the  things  which  He 
hath  decreed  cannot  be  reckoned  and  the  things 
which  He  knoweth  have  no  end. 

"  We  witness  that  He  knoweth  all  the  things  that 
can  be  known,  comprehending  that  which  happen- 
eth  from  the  bounds  of  the  earth  unto  the  topmost 
heavens ;  no  grain  in  the  earth  or  the  heavens  is  dis- 
tant from  His  knowledge.  Yea,  He  knows  the 
creeping  of  the  black  ant  upon  the  rugged  rock  in 
a  dark  nigfyt,  and  He  perceives  the  movement  of 
the  mote  in  the  midst  of  the  air;  He  knows  the 
secret  and  the  concealed  and  has  knowledge  of  the 
suggestions  of  the  minds  and  the  movements  of  the 
thoughts  and  the  concealed  things  of  the  inmost 
parts,  by  a  knowledge  which  is  prior  from  eternity ; 
He  has  not  ceased  to  be  describable  by  it,  from  the 


156       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

ages  of  the  ages,  not  by  a  knowledge  which  renews 
itself  and  arises  in  His  essence  by  arrival  and  re- 
moval. 

"  We  witness  that  He  is  a  Wilier  of  the  things 
that  are,  a  Director  of  the  things  that  happen;  there 
does  not  come  about  in  the  world  seen  or  unseen, 
little  or  much,  small  or  great,  good  or  evil,  advan- 
tage or  disadvantage,  faith  or  unbelief,  knowledge 
or  ignorance,  success  or  loss,  increase  or  diminu- 
tion, obedience  or  rebellion,  except  by  His  will. 
What  He  wills  is,  and  what  He  wills  not  is  not. 
Not  a  glance  of  one  who  looks,  or  a  slip  of  one  who 
thinks  is  outside  of  His  will;  He  is  the  creator,  the 
Bringer  back,  the  Doer  of  that  which  He  wills. 
There  is  no  opponent  of  His  command  and  no  re- 
peater of  His  destiny  and  no  refuge  for  a  creature 
from  disobeying  Him,  except  by  His  help  and  His 
mercy,  and  no  strength  to  a  creature  to  obey  Him 
except  by  His  will.  Even  though  mankind  and  the 
Jinn  and  the  Angels  and  the  Shaytans  were  to  unite 
to  remove  a  single  grain  in  the  world  or  to  bring 
it  to  rest  without  His  will,  they  would  be  too  weak 
for  that.  His  will  subsists  in  His  essence  as  one 
of  His  qualities ;  He  hath  not  ceased  to  be  described 
through  it  as  a  Wilier,  in  His  infinity  of  the  exist- 
ence of  things  at  their  appointed  times  which  He 
hath  decreed.  So  they  come  into  existence  at  their 
appointed  times  even  as  He  has  willed  in  His  in- 
finity without  precedence  or  sequence.  They  hap- 
pen according  to  the  agreement  of  His  knowledge 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          157 

and  His  will,  without  exchange  or  change  in  plan- 
ning of  things,  nor  with  arranging  of  thoughts  or 
awaiting  of  time,  and  therefore  one  thing  does  not 
distract  Him  from  another. 

"And  we  witness  that  He  is  a  Hearer  and  a  Seer. 
He  hears  and  sees  and  no  audible  thing  is  distant 
from  His  hearing,  and  no  visible  thing  is  far  from 
His  seeing,  however  fine  it  may  be.  Distance  does 
not  curtain  off  His  hearing  and  darkness  does  not 
dull  His  seeing ;  He  sees  without  eyeball  or  eyelid, 
and  hears  without  earholes  or  ears,  just  as  He 
knows  without  a  brain  and  seizes  without  a  limb 
and  creates  without  an  instrument,  since  His  quali- 
ties do  not  resemble  that  quality  of  created  things, 
just  as  His  essence  does  not  resemble  the  essences 
of  created  things. 

"And  we  witness  that  He  speaks,  commanding, 
forbidding,  praising,  threatening,  with  a  speech 
from  all  eternity,  prior,  subsisting  in  His  essence 
not  resembling  the  speech  of  created  things.  It  is 
not  a  sound  which  originates  through  the  slipping 
out  of  air,  or  striking  of  bodies ;  nor  is  it  a  letter 
which  is  separated  off  by  closing  down  a  lip  or 
moving  a  tongue.  And  the  Koran  and  the  Tawrat 
(the  Law  of  Moses)  and  the  Injil  (the  Gospel)  and 
the  Zabbur  (the  Psalms)  are  His  books  revealed  to 
His  Apostles.  And  the  Koran  is  repeated  by 
tongues,  written  in  copies,  preserved  in  hearts ;  yet 
it  in  spite  of  that,  is  prior  subsisting  in  the  essence 
of  God,  not  subject  to  division  and  separation 


158       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

through  being  transferred  to  hearts  and  leaves. 
And  Musa  heard  the  speech  of  God  without  a 
sound  and  without  a  letter,  just  as  the  pious  see  the 
essence  of  God,  in  the  other  world  without  a  sub- 
stance or  an  attribute. 

"  And  since  He  has  those  qualities,  He  is  living, 
Knowing,  Powerful,  a  Wilier,  a  Hearer,  a  Seer,  a 
Speaker,  through  Life,  Power,  Knowledge,  Will, 
Hearing,  Seeing,  Speech,  not  by  a  thing  separated 
from  His  essence. 

"  We  witness  that  there  is  no  entity  besides  Him, 
except  what  is  originated  from  His  action  and  pro- 
ceeds from  His  justice,  after  the  most  beautiful 
and  perfect  and  complete  and  just  of  ways.  He  is 
wise  in  His  actions,  just  in  His  determinations; 
there  is  no  analogy  between  His  justice  and  the 
justice  of  creatures,  since  tyranny  is  conceivable  in 
the  case  of  a  creature,  when  he  deals  with  the  prop- 
erty of  some  other  than  himself,  but  tyranny  is  not 
conceivable  in  the  case  of  God.  For  He  never  en- 
counters any  property  of  some  other  than  Himself 
so  that  His  dealing  with  it  might  be  tyranny. 
Everything  besides  Him,  consisting  of  men  and 
Jinn  and  Angels  and  Shaytans  and  the  heavens  and 
the  earth  and  animals  and  plants  and  inanimate 
things  and  substance  and  attribute  and  things  per- 
ceived and  things  felt,  is  an  originated  thing,  which 
He  created  by  His  power  before  any  other  had  cre- 
ated it,  after  it  had  not  existed,  and  which  He  in- 
vented after  that  it  had  not  been  a  thing,  since  He 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          159 

in  eternity  was  an  entity  by  Himself,  and  there  was 
not  along  with  Him  any  other  than  He.  So  He 
originated  the  creation  thereafter,  by  way  of  mani- 
festation of  His  power,  and  verification  of  that 
which  had  preceded  of  His  Will,  and  of  that  which 
existed  in  eternity  of  His  Word;  not  because  He 
has  any  lack  of  it  or  need  of  it.  And  He  is  gra- 
cious in  creating  and  in  making  for  the  first  time 
and  in  imposing  of  duty — not  of  necessity — and 
He  is  generous  in  befitting;  and  well-doing  and 
gracious  helping  belong  to  Him,  since  He  is  able  to 
bring  upon  His  creatures  different  kinds  of  punish- 
ment and  to  test  them  with  different  varieties  of 
pains  and  ailments.  And  if  He  did  that  it  would 
be  justice  on  His  part,  and  would  not  be  a  vile  ac- 
tion or  tyranny  in  Him.  He  rewardeth  His  be- 
lieving creatures  for  their  acts  of  obedience  by  a 
decision  which  is  of  generosity  and  of  promise  and 
not  of  right  and  of  obligation,  since  no  particular 
action  towards  any  one  is  incumbent  upon  Him,  and 
tyranny  is  inconceivable  in  Him,  and  no  one  pos- 
sesses a  right  against  Him.  And  His  right  to  acts 
of  obedience  is  binding  upon  the  creatures  because 
He  has  made  it  binding  through  the  tongues  of  His 
prophets,  not  by  reason  alone.  But  He  sent  apos- 
tles and  manifested  their  truth  by  plain  miracles, 
and  they  brought  His  commands  and  forbiddings 
and  promisings  and  threatenings.  So,  belief  in 
them  as  to  what  they  have  brought  is  incumbent 
upon  the  creation. 


160       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

"  The  second  Word  of  Witnessing  is  witnessing 
that  the  apostolate  belongs  to  the  apostle,  and  that 
God  sent  the  unlettered  Qurayshite  prophet,  Mo- 
hammed, with  his  apostolate  to  the  totality  of 
Arabs  and  foreigners  and  Jinn  and  men.  And  He 
abrogated  by  his  law  the  other  Laws  except  so 
much  of  them  as  He  confirmed ;  and  made  him  ex- 
cellent over  the  rest  of  the  prophets  and  made  him 
the  Lord  of  Mankind  and  declared  incomplete  the 
Faith  that  consists  in  witnessing  the  Unity,  which 
is  saying,  '  There  is  no  god  except  God/  so  long  as 
there  is  not  joined  that  of  witnessing  to  the  Apos- 
tle, which  is  saying  '  Mohammed  is  the  Apostle  of 
God.'  And  He  made  obligatory  upon  the  creation 
belief  in  Him,  as  to  all  which  He  narrated  concern- 
ing the  things  of  this  world  and  the  next.  And 
then  He  would  not  accept  the  faith  of  a  creature, 
so  long  as  he  did  not  believe  in  that  which  the 
Prophet  narrated  concerning  things  after  death. 
The  first  of  these  is  the  question  of  Munkar  and 
Nakir ;  these  are  two  awful  and  terrible  beings  who 
will  cause  the  creature  to  sit  up  in  his  grave,  com- 
plete, both  soul  and  body;  and  they  will  ask  him, 
'  Who  is  thy  Lord,  and  what  is  thy  religion  ( din), 
and  who  is  thy  Prophet  ? '  They  are  the  two 
testers  in  the  grave  and  their  questioning  is  the 
first  testing  after  death.  And  that  he  should  be- 
lieve in  the  punishment  of  the  grave — that  it  is  a 
Verity  and  that  its  judgment  upon  the  body  and 
the  soul  is  just,  according  to  what  God  wills.  And 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          161 

that  he  should  believe  in  the  Balance — it  with  the 
two  scales  and  the  tongue,  the  magnitude  of  which 
is  like  unto  the  stages  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth. 
In  it,  deeds  are  weighed  by  the  power  of  God  Most 
High ;  and  its  weights  in  that  day  will  be  the  weight 
of  motes  and  mustard  seeds,  to  show  the  exactitude 
of  its  justice.  The  leaves  of  the  good  deeds  will 
be  placed  in  a  beautiful  form  in  the  scale  of  light; 
and  then  the  Balance  will  be  weighed  down  by  them 
according  to  the  measure  of  their  degree  with  God, 
by  the  grace  of  God.  And  the  leaves  of  evil  deeds 
will  be  cast  in  a  vile  form  into  the  scale  of  darkness, 
and  the  Balance  will  be  light  with  them,  through 
the  justice  of  God.  And  that  he  should  believe 
that  the  Bridge  (as-$irat)  is  a  Verity;  it  is  a  bridge 
stretched  over  the  back  of  Hell  (Jahannam), 
sharper  than  a  sword  and  finer  than  a  hair.  The 
feet  of  the  unbelievers  slip  upon  it,  by  the  decree  of 
God,  and  fall  with  them  into  the  Fire.  But  the 
feet  of  believers  stand  firm  upon  it,  by  the  grace  of 
God,  and  so  they  pass  into  the  Abiding  Abode. 
And  that  he  should  believe  in  the  Tank  (Hawdh), 
to  which  the  people  shall  go  down,  the  Tank  of 
Mohammed  from  which  the  believers  shall  drink 
before  entering  the  Garden  and  after  passing  the 
Bridge.  Whoever  drinks  of  it  a  single  draught 
will  never  thirst  again  thereafter.  Its  breadth  is  a 
journey  of  a  month ;  its  water  is  whiter  than  milk 
and  sweeter  than  honey;  around  it  are  ewers  in 
numbers  like  the  stars  of  heaven;  into  it  flow  two 


162       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

canals  from  Al-Kawthar  (Koran  108).  And  that 
he  should  believe  in  the  Reckoning  and  in  the  dis- 
tinctions between  men  in  it,  him  with  whom  it  will 
go  hard  in  the  Reckoning  and  him  to  whom  com- 
passion will  be  shown  therein,  and  him  who  enters 
the  Garden  without  reckoning, — these  are  the  hon- 
oured (muqarrab).  God  Most  High  will  ask 
whomsoever  He  will  of  the  prophets,  concerning 
the  carrying  of  His  message,  and  whomsoever  He 
will  of  the  unbelievers,  concerning  the  rejection  of 
the  messengers;  and  He  will  ask  the  innovators 
(Mubtadi's)  concerning  the  Sunna;  and  the  Mos- 
lems concerning  works.  And  that  he  should  be- 
lieve that  the  attestors  of  God's  Unity  (muwah- 
hids)  will  be  brought  forth  from  the  Fire,  after 
vengeance  has  been  taken  on  them,  so  that  there 
will  not  remain  in  Hell  an  attestor  of  God's  Unity. 
And  that  he  should  believe  in  the  intercession 
(shafa'a)  of  the  prophets,  next  of  the  learned 
('ulama),  next  of  the  martyrs,  next  of  the  rest  of 
the  believers — each  according  to  his  dignity  and 
rank  with  God  Most  High.  And  he  who  remains 
of  the  believers,  and  has  no  intercessor,  shall  be 
brought  forth  of  the  grace  of  God,  whose  are 
Might  and  Majesty.  So  there  shall  not  abide  eter- 
nally in  the  Fire  a  single  believer,  but  whoever  has 
in  his  heart  the  weight  of  a  single  grain  of  faith 
shall  be  brought  forth  therefrom.  And  that  he 
should  confess  the  excellence  of  the  Companions — 
May  God  be  well  pleased  with  them — and  their 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          163 

rank ;  and  that  the  most  excellent  of  mankind,  after 
the  Prophet  is  Abu  Bakr,  next  Umar,  next  Uth- 
man,  next  Ali — May  God  be  well  pleased  with 
them;  And  that  he  should  think  well  of  all  the 
Companions  and  should  praise  them  like  as  he 
praises  God,  whose  are  Might  and  Majesty,  and 
His  Apostles.  All  this  is  that  which  has  been 
handed  down  in  tradition  from  the  Prophet  and  in 
narratives  from  the  followers.  He  who  confesses 
all  this,  relying  upon  it,  is  of  the  People  of  the 
Truth  and  the  Company  of  the  Sunna,  and  hath 
separated  himself  from  the  band  of  error  and  the 
sect  of  innovation  (bid' a).  So  we  ask  from  God 
perfection  of  certainty  and  firm  standing  in  the 
Faith  (din)  for  us  and  for  all  Moslems  through 
His  compassion. — Lo !  He  is  the  Most  Compassion- 
ate!— and  may  the  blesSing  of  God  be  upon  our 
Lord  Mohammed  and  upon  every  chosen  creature/* 

The  above  is  Doctor  Macdonald's  careful  trans- 
lation of  what  Al-Ghazali  taught  was  involved 
when  Moslems  say:  There  is  no  God  but  Allah, 
and  Mohammed  is  Allah's  Apostle.  Surely  he  gave 
this  shortest  of  all  creeds  its  full  significance  and 
value. 

It  is  necessary,  however,  not  only  to  see  in  it  the 
faith  of  Al-Ghazali  but  his  credulity  as  well,  if  we 
desire  to  understand  the  man  and  his  times.  Once 
his  early  scepticism  was  overcome,  he  was  always 
and  everywhere  an  orthodox  Moslem,  and  there- 


164       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

fore  swallowed  the  Traditions  and  the  Koran  ap- 
parently without  any  philosophic  doubt.  He  be- 
lieved that  Mohammed  was  the  greatest  of  all  the 
prophets,  and  that,  so  he  says,  "  God  has  estab- 
lished Mohammed's  prophetic  character  by  mir- 
acles, such  as  the  splitting  of  the  moon,  and  the 
praising  of  him  by  stones,  the  gushing  out  of  water 
from  between  his  fingers.  One  of  the  greatest 
miracles,  proving  his  divine  mission,  is  the  Koran, 
for  none  of  the  Arabs  were  able  to  produce  any- 
thing like  it.  Another  sign  of  his  prophetic  char- 
acter is  his  being  able  to  foretell  things  which  are  to 
come  to  pass,  such  as  his  victorious  entry  into 
Mecca,  the  defeat  of  the  Greeks  and  their  subse- 
quent victories."  (See  the  special  chapter  in  the 
Ihya  on  this  subject.) 

He  was  a  predestinarian  in  the  fullest  sense.  In 
one  place  he  writes:  "When  God  Almighty  let 
His  hands  pass  over  the  back  of  Adam  and  gath- 
ered men  into  His  two  hands,  He  placed  some  of 
them  in  His  right  hand  and  the  others  in  His  left; 
then  He  opened  both  His  hands  before  Adam,  and 
Adam  looked  at  them  and  saw  them  like  imper- 
ceptible atoms.  Then  God  said:  "These  are  des- 
tined for  Paradise  and  these  are  destined  for  hell- 
fire.'  He  then  asked  them:  'Am  I  not  your 
Lord?  '  And  they  replied:  '  Certainly,  we  testify 
that  Thou  art  our  Lord/  God  then  asked  Adam 
and  the  angels  to  be  witnesses  to  the  act ;  after  this 
God  replaced  them  into  the  loins  of  Adam.  They 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY          165 

were  at  that  time  purely  spiritual  beings  without 
bodies.  He  then  caused  them  to  die,  but  gathered 
them  and  kept  them  in  a  receptacle  near  His  throne. 
When  the  germ  of  a  new  being  is  placed  in  the 
womb  of  the  mother,  it  remains  there  till  its  body 
is  sufficiently  developed;  the  soul  in  the  same  is 
then  dead  yet.  When  God  Almighty  breathes  into 
the  spirit,  He  restores  to  it  its  most  precious  part 
of  which  it  had  been  deprived  while  preserved  in 
the  receptacle  near  the  throne.  This  is  the  first 
death  and  the  second  life.  Then  God  places  man 
in  this  world  till  he  has  reached  the  term  fixed  for 
him/' 

The  great  Mystic  was  also  superstitious.  Some 
of  his  books  deal  with  magical  formulae  taken  from 
the  Koran  and  the  medicinal  use  of  its  text  or  of 
the  names  of  God.  One  of  the  most  celebrated 
magic  squares  used  on  amulets,  etc.,  is  called  the 
"  Square  of  Al-Ghazali  "  or  Al-Buduh.  It  may  in- 
terest in  conclusion  to  give  an  account  of  this  form 
of  magic,  approved  by  Al-Ghazali,  because  it  is  one 
of  the  things  by  which  he  is  best  known  among  the 
masses  in  the  world  of  Islam. 

In  the  older  Arabic  books  on  magic  this  formula 
plays  a  comparatively  minor  part ;  but  after  it  was 
taken  up  by  Al-Ghazali  and  cited  in  his  Munkidh 
(pp.  46  and  50  of  ed.  of  Cairo,  1303)  as  an  inex- 
plicable, but  certain  assistance  in  cases  of  difficult 
labour,  it  came  to  be  universally  known  as  "the 
three- fold  talisman,  or  seal,  or  table  of  Al-Ghazali" 


166       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

(al-wakf,  al-khatam,  al-jadzval,  al-muthallath  HI- 
Ghasali)  and  finally  has  become  the  starting  point 
for  the  whole  "Science  of  Letters"  (fllm  ul-huruf) 
(e.  g.,  Cf.  Al-Buni's  Shems  ul  Mu'arif  A.  H.  622). 
Al-Ghazali  is  said  to  have  developed  the  formula, 
under  divine  inspiration  (ilham),  from  the  com- 
binations of  letters  which  open  Suras  xix.  and  xlii. 
of  the  Koran,  and  which  by  themselves  are  also 
used  as  talismans.1  Others  trace  the  formula  back 
to  Adam,  from  whom  it  passed  down  to  Al- 
Ghazali.3 

For  the  popular  mind  Buduh  has  become  a  Jinn 
whose  services  can  be  secured  by  writing  his  name 
either  in  letters  or  numbers.  The  uses  of  the  word 
are  most  varied  to  invoke  both  good  and  bad  for- 
tune. It  is  used  against  menorrhagia,  against 
pains  in  the  stomach,  to  render  oneself  invisible, 
against  temporary  impotence,  etc.  Lane's  Cairo 
magician  also  used  it  with  his  ink  mirror  ("  Mod- 
ern Egyptians,"  chap.  xii.).  We  find  the  same  in 
magical  treatises.  It  is  also  engraved  upon  jewels 
and  metal  plates  or  rings  which  are  carried  as  per- 
manent talismans,  and  it  is  inscribed  at  the  begin- 
ning of  books  as  a  preservative.  But  by  far  the 
most  common  use  is  to  ensure  the  arrival  of  letters 

1  For  the  process  see  pp.  170  et  seq.  of  "  Mafatih  Al- 
Ghaib"  (Cairo,  1327)  by  Ahmed  Al-Zarkawi,  a  contem- 
porary Egyptian  magician,  and  on  the  subject  in  general, 
the  sixth  and  seventh  Risalas  in  that  volume. 

2Cf.     "Al-Faidh   al   Mutawalli   of   Ahmed   Damanhtiri, 
Cairo,  1331. 


HIS  CEEED  AND  CEEDULITY 


167 


and  packages.1  No  letter  from  one  pious  Moslem 
to  another  is  ever  posted  in  the  Near  East  without 
putting  the  figure  8642  in  Arabic  on  the  outside 
of  the  envelope  where  it  is  sealed.  And  one  may 
see  thousands  of  children  in  Egypt  who  have  never 
heard  of  Al-Ghazali  and  cannot  read  the  letters  of 
his  name  wearing  his  magic  square  on  lead  or  silver 
amulet  to  protect  them  from  the  hideous  power  of 
the  Child- Witch  (Um-as-Subyan).  In  the  Azhar 
University  men  study  his  creed  but  in  the  villages 
they  follow  his  credulity  and  to  all  the  fellahin  of 
Egypt  Buduh  has  become  a  guardian  Angel ! 
1 "  Encyclopaedia  of  Islam,"  article  Buduh. 


4 

9 

2 

3 

5 

7 

8 

1 

6 

Each  letter 
stands  for  the 
number  as  in- 
dicated. 


J 


VI 

His  Writings 


"  I  saw  the  Prophet  in  a  dream,  and  he  was  con- 
tending with  Moses  and  Jesus  regarding  the  superi- 
ority of  excellence  of  the  Imam  Al-Ghazali,  and  say- 
ing to  them,  '  Have  you  had  in  your  sects  such  a 
learned  and  righteous  man  ? '  alluding  to  Al-Ghazali, 
and  they  both  replied,  'No/  The  Shaikh,  the 
Imam,  one  acquainted  with  God,  the  Master,  the 
support  of  religious  law  and  truth,  Abu'l-' Abbas  al- 
Mursi  said,  when  mention  was  made  of  Al-Ghazali, 
'  Testimony  has  been  already  borne  to  his  great  and 
extreme  veracity,  and  it  is  sufficient  for  you  (to 
know)  that  it  was  he  regarding  whom  the  Prophet 
contended  with  Moses  and  Jesus,  and  to  whose  great 
and  extreme  veracity  the  most  truthful  have  borne 
testimony.9 " 

— Ad-Damiri's  Hayat  al-Hayawan. 

"  Verily  I  saw  in  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  (on  him  be 
peace)  that  he  said:  From  the  moment  the  dead  is 
placed  on  the  bier  until  he  rests  on  the  edge  of  the 
open  grave  God  Most  High  asks  of  him  forty  ques- 
tions." 

— Al-Ghazali  in  Risalat  Ayyuha'l  walad  (sec.  5). 


VI 

HIS  WRITINGS 

MORE  by  far  is  known  of  Al-Ghazali 
from  his  writings  than  from  the  records 
of  his  life.  The  meagre  facts  of  the 
biographers  and  even  the  spelling  of  his  name,  as 
we  have  seen,  are  disputed.  His  pen,  however,  left 
so  large  a  legacy  that  many  of  his  works  are  still 
found  only  in  rare  manuscripts,  and  have  never 
been  published.  Moslem  writers  mention  ninety- 
nine  works,  and  Brockelmann  in  his  "  History  of 
Arabic  Literature  "  catalogues  sixty-nine  which  are 
still  in  existence.  They  include  systems  of  theol- 
ogy, eschatology,  works  on  philosophy,  lectures  on 
mysticism,  on  ethics,  and  on  canon  law* 

Many  have  assigned  to  Al-Ghazali  the  highest 
position  among  all  Moslem  writers.  Ismael  Ibn 
Mohammed  Al  Hadrami  says:  "Mohammed  the 
son  of  Abdullah  was  the  Prince  of  all  the  Prophets ; 
Mohammed  the  son  of  Idris  Al-Shafi'  was  the 
Prince  of  Imams;  but  Mohammed  the  son  of  Mo- 
hammed, the  son  of  Mohammed  Al-Ghazali,  was 
the  Prince  of  Writers." 

We  have  interesting  evidence  of  Al-Ghazali's 
position  as  a  writer  even  in  his  own  day  in  the  pre- 

171 


172       A  MOSLEM  SBEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

cious  relic  shown  in  our  illustration.  In  the  Arabic 
Museum  at  Cairo  there  is  a  maqlama  or  pen-case 
which  once  belonged  to  Al-Ghazali.  It  was  pre- 
sented to  the  Museum  by  M.  Kyticas  and  is  made 
of  brass  overlaid  with  silver.  It  bears  the  follow- 
ing inscription:  "Made  for  the  library  of  our  Mas- 
ter, the  most  great  and  noble  Imam,  our  revered 
Leader,  the  Mouthpiece  of  verity,  the  greatest 
Scholar  of  the  world,  the  King  of  zvise  men,  the 
Stay  of  all  living,  the  Treasury  of  truth,  the  most 
illustrious  among  his  contemporaries,  the  Restorer 
of  religion,  [an  illegible  word]  Hujjat  ul-Islam, 
Mohammed  Al-Ghazali." 

This  bronze  is  the  oldest  piece  of  damascened 
metal  work  and  the  only  example  of  that  epoch 
with  naskhi  inscription  in  the  possession  of  the 
Museum.  That  the  case  was  not  made  at  a  later 
period  and  presented  to  Al-Ghazali's  library  after 
his  death  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  it  was  the 
custom  to  present  a  book  or  celestial  globe  to  a 
library,  but  not  a  pen-case  or  even  an  inkstand. 
Then,  too,  the  word  "  al-marhum,"  meaning  "  de- 
ceased," does  not  appear  on  it  as  it  does  on  other 
objects  which  were  offered  in  memory  of  a  de- 
ceased person.  An  objection  to  the  authenticity 
of  the  bronze  is  the  use  of  silver  in  a  pen-case  de- 
signed to  be  used  by  a  Sufi  doctor  pledged  in  some 
measure  to  an  ascetic  life.  But  this  objection  may 
be  answered  by  stating  that  the  case  was  not  made 
to  the  order  of  Al-Ghazali  personally,  but  by  his 


Pen  case  of  Al  Ghazali,  made  of  brass  inlaid  with  silver, 
preserved  in  the  Arab  Museum,  Cairo. 


HIS  WEITINGS  173 

disciples  in  order  to  obtain  his  good-will  and  pat- 
ronage.1 

We  need  not,  moreover,  be  surprised  at  the  ap- 
parent lack  of  modesty  which  the  inscription  on  the 
pen-case  indicates.  Judging  from  other  instances 
of  this  period,  Al-Ghazali  himself  might  well  have 
written  the  inscription. 

An  almost  complete  list  of  Al-Ghazali's  writings 
as  well  as  of  the  translations  of  his  works  into  other 
languages,  especially  Hebrew,  Latin,  French,  Ger- 
man, and  English,  is  given  in  the  appendix.2  Be- 
fore we  speak  of  some  of  his  more  important  works 
a  summary  will  interest  the  reader.  The  Jawahir 
al-Koran  (Jewels  of  the  Koran)  contains  observa- 
tions on  some  of  the  verses  of  the  Koran  which 
have  special  value;  the  'Aqida  is  a  statement  of  the 
articles  of  the  Moslem  faith,  and  was  published  by 
Pococke  in  his  Specimen;  the  Precious  Pearl  (Al- 
Durrat  Al-Fakhira)  is  a  treatise  on  the  last  judg- 
ment and  the  end  of  the  world,  i.  e.,  his  eschatology 
— and  has  been  translated  and  published  by  L. 
Gautier.  The  morality  and  theology  of  the  mys- 
tics are  codified  in  the  Ihya  'ulum  id-din  (Revivifi- 
cation of  the  Religious  Sciences).  The  Mizan  Al- 
'amal  (The  Balance  of  Works)  has  been  translated 

1  See  a  paper  on  this  subject  by  Ali  Bey  Bargat,  Sur  Deux 
Bronzes  du  Musee  Arabe— "  Bulletin  de  1'Inst,  Egypt,"  IV : 
7- 

2  For  critical  notes  on  his  works  see  R.  Gosche,  pp.  249- 
300,  also  Gardner's  remarks  and  list. 


174       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEB  AFTEE  GOD 

into  Hebrew  by  Ibrahim  bin  Hasdai  of  Barcelona, 
and  published  by  Goldenthal.  The  Kimiya  as- 
sa'ada  (Alchemy  of  Happiness)  is  a  popular  lec- 
ture founded  on  mysticism;  this  work  which  was 
originally  written  in  Persian,  has  been  twice  trans- 
lated into  English,  by  H.  A.  Homes  in  1873  and 
more  recently  by  Claud  Field.  Ayyuha'l-walad  (O 
Child!)  is  a  celebrated  moral  treatise,  which  has 
been  translated  into  German  and  published  by  Ham- 
mer-Purgstall.  Among  works  on  jurisprudence, 
his  treatises  on  Shafi'ite  law  have  earned  great 
reputation  in  the  Moslem  world ;  his  Basil,  Wasit, 
and  Wajiz  are  all  abridgments  of  them.  In  the 
domain  of  philosophy,  the  Tahafut  al-Falasifa 
(Collapse  of  the  Philosophers)  is  an  attack  on  the 
adherents  of  the  Greek  Philosophy;  it  has  been 
edited  by  De  Boer.  The  Maqasid  al-Falasifa 
(Aims  of  the  Philosophers)  is  a  sort  of  introduc- 
tion to  the  above.  The  text  has  been  published  by 
G.  Beer,  and  a  Latin  translation  by  Gondisalvi  is  in 
existence,  which  was  printed  in  Venice  in  1506. 
Al-Munqidh  min  ad-Dalai  (The  Deliverer  from 
Error),  written  after  the  author  commenced  his 
life  as  a  teacher  at  Nishapur  for  the  second  time, 
describes  the  development  of  his  philosophy.  It 
was  translated  and  published  by  Schmolders  in  his 
"  Essay  on  the  Schools  of  Philosophy  Among  the 
Arabs  " ;  a  second  and  greatly  improved  translation 
was  published  in  the  Journal  Asiatique  for  1877,  by 
the  learned  savant,  Barbier  de  Meynard.  More  re- 


HIS  WHITINGS  175 

cently  it  appeared  in  English  under  the  title  "  The 
Confessions  of  Al-Ghazali."  It  is  one  of  his 
shortest  but  most  famous  books  and  can  be  com- 
pared with  the  "  Confessions  "  of  St.  Augustine,  or 
John  Bunyan's  "  Grace  Abounding  to  the  Chief 
of  Sinners."  Several  of  Al-Ghazali's  numerous 
works  are  very  brief,  in  the  shape  of  epistles  or 
tractates. 

Among  his  shorter  works  the  following  may  be 
mentioned:  Al-Adab  fi  Din,  a  short  treatise  on  the 
ethics  of  politeness,  prepared  for  the  use  of  his 
pupils.  It  speaks  of  the  ideal  pupil,  the  ideal 
teacher,  of  the  ethics  of  eating,  drinking,  marriage 
and  the  religious  life.  A  smaller  work  already 
mentioned  is  the  Risala  Ayyuh'  Al-Walad  ("O 
Child!").  In  it  he  defines  faith  and  works  and 
distinguishes  between  them.  A  curious  passage 
occurs  in  the  introduction  which  reflects  on  Al- 
Ghazali's  accuracy  of  statement,  or  at  least  raises 
the  question  as  to  which  "  Gospel  "  he  refers  to.  He 
says:  "  O  my  child,  live  as  you  please  for  you  are 
already  dead;  love  whom  you  wish,  for  you  are 
bound  to  be  separated ;  and  do  what  you  will,  for 
you  are  sure  to  be  judged  for  it.  Verily  I  saw  in 
the  Gospel  of  Jesus  (upon  Him  be  prayers  and 
peace)  that  He  said,  '  From  the  hour  in  which  the 
dead  is  put  upon  the  bier  until  the  time  when  he 
rests  on  the  edge  of  the  grave  God  will  ask  him 
forty  questions,  the  first  of  which  is,  O  my  serv- 
ant, you  have  purified  yourself  to  appear  before 


176       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

men  many  years  and  not  for  one  hour  have  you 
purified  yourself  for  my  gates,  and  every  day  a 
voice  was  sounded  in  your  ears  saying,  '  What  you 
do  for  others  why  do  you  not  do  for  me  who  sur- 
rounds you  with  my  mercy ! '  but  you  were  deaf 
and  not  willing  to  hear.'  "  , 

In  his  "Alchemy  of  Happiness  "  there  is  a  beau- 
tiful chapter  on  "  Know  Thyself.'1  The  parable 
there  used  regarding  man's  soul  and  the  enemies 
that  lay  siege  against  it  reminds  one  very  much  of 
Bunyan's  "Holy  War."  The  shortest  of  his 
works,  as  far  as  I  am  aware,  is  called  Al-Qawa'id 
Al-Ashara  (The  Ten  Articles) ;  this  has  been 
frequently  reprinted.  It  consists  of  ten  principles 
of  faith  and  conduct,  and  is  scarcely  longer  than 
an  ordinary  letter.  Of  a  similar  character  is 
Risalat-ut-Tair  the  parable  of  the  birds.  His  most 
celebrated  treatise  on  ethics  and  conduct  is  entitled 
Mizan  ul  'Arnal.  It  might  be  compared  to  the 
book  of  Ecclesiastes  or  the  first  chapters  of  the 
book  of  Proverbs.  In  the  introduction  Al-Ghazali 
shows  the  folly  of  those  who  neglect  to  secure  the 
happiness  of  their  immortal  souls  as  well  as  the 
peril  of  those  who  despise  faith  in  the  world  to 
come.  The  true  way  of  happiness  consists  in 
knowing  the  right  and  doing  it.  The  soul  is  a  unit 
and  its  various  powers  are  knit  together  and  are 
interdependent.  The  path  of  the  mystic  unites  true 
faith  with  true  practice.  He  also  speaks  of  the 
possibility  of  change  of  character  through  religious 


HIS  WEITINGS  177 

devotion  and  mentions  the  virtues  that  are  to  be 
cultivated  and  the  vices  to  be  shunned  on  this  path- 
way to  God  and  to  true  happiness. 

To  emphasize  the  importance  of  life  with  its 
brevity  and  the  supreme  importance  of  eternity 
Al-Ghazali  says:  "  Suppose  we  imagine  that  the 
whole  world  is  filled  with  dust  and  that  a  little  bird 
should  come  and  snatch  up  one  atom  of  dust  every 
thousand  years.  We  know  that  there  would  be  an 
end  of  its  task,  but  nothing  would  have  been  taken 
away  from  the  everlasting  character  of  that  eter- 
nity which  has  no  end/'  Although  the  moral 
teaching  of  this  book  is  very  noble,  it  is  after  all 
based  entirely  on  the  principle  of  salvation  by 
works.  There  is  no  hint  of  the  possibility  of  the 
transformation  of  character  through  regeneration 
of  the  heart,  nor  is  the  way  pointed  to  the  victori- 
ous life  by  overcoming  temptation  through  a  power 
that  is  not  our  own. 

Of  all  his  writings  none  is  celebrated  more  justly 
than  his  greatest  work  "  The  Revival  of  Religious 
Sciences  "  (Ihya  'uhtm  id  Din).  It  is  a  veritable 
encyclopaedia  of  Moslem  teaching  and  ethics  and 
covers  the  whole  range  of  Moslem  thought.  Many 
editions  of  this  work  have  been  printed  and  com- 
mentaries written  on  it,  the  most  celebrated  of 
which  is  by  Mohammed-uz-Zubeidi  Al-Murtadha, 
in  ten  large  volumes.  The  work  itself  consists  of 
four  volumes  of  ten  books  each  and  has  a  total  of 
over  one  thousand  closely  printed  pages.  Although 


178       A  MOSLEM  SBEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

widely  read  in  its  original  form,  popular  demand 
has  called  forth  several  abbreviated  compendia  of 
the  work.  One  of  them  entitled  "A  Homily  for 
Believers,"  by  Mohammed  Jamal-ud-Din  of  Da- 
mascus, is  used  as  a  text-book  on  Islam  in  the  The- 
ological Seminary  of  the  American  Mission  in 
Cairo. 

The  first  part  of  the  original  work  is  entitled 
"  Things  that  pertain  to  worship  " ;  the  second  part, 
"  Things  that  pertain  to  practice  " ;  the  third  part, 
"  Things  that  destroy  the  soul,"  i.  e.,  the  vices ;  the 
fourth  part,  "  Things  that  deliver  the  soul,"  i.  e., 
the  virtues.  The  contents  are  as  follows: 

"  THINGS  THAT  PERTAIN  TO  WORSHIP  " 
I.     The  Book  of  Knowledge,  which  has  seven 
divisions : 

1.  The  Benefits  of  Learning. 

2.  What  Kind  of  Knowledge  is  Forbidden 

and  Permitted. 

3.  Theological  Learning  and  Nomencla- 

ture. 

4.  Conditions  of  Debate  and  Controversy. 

5.  The  Relation  of  Teacher  and  Pupil. 

6.  The  Dangers  of  Learning. 

7.  The  Mind  and  its  Uses. 

II.     The  Book  of  Dogma,  which  has  four  divisions : 

1.  The  Moslem  Creed. 

2.  Degrees  of  Faith. 

3.  God,  His  Being,  Attributes,  Work. 

4.  Faith  and  Islam. 


HIS  WBITINGS  179 

III.  The  Book  of  the  Mysteries  of  Purity,  which 

has  three  divisions : 

1.  Purification  from  Unclean  Objects. 

2.  Purification  from  Unclean  States. 

3.  Purification  from  Unclean  Matters  that 

cling  to  the  Body  (finger-nails,  ears, 
etc.). 

IV.  The  Book  of  the  Mysteries  of  Prayer,  which 

has  seven  divisions : 

1.  The  Benefits  of  Prayer. 

2.  Outward  Observance  of  Prayer. 

3.  Conditions  of  Prayer. 

4.  The  Imam. 

5.  Friday  Prayers. 

6.  Miscellaneous  Matters. 

7.  Special  Prayers. 

V.     The  Book  of  the  Mysteries  of  Almsgiving, 
which  has  four  divisions : 

1.  Kinds  of  Alms. 

2.  Conditions  of  Giving. 

3.  To  Whom. 

4.  How  they  are  Observed. 

VI.     The  Book  of  the  Mysteries  of  Fasting,  which 
has  three  divisions : 

1.  Its  Necessity. 

2.  Its  Mysteries. 

3.  Obedience  through  Fasting. 

VII.     The  Book  of  the  Mysteries  of  the  Pilgrimage, 
which  has  three  divisions : 

1.  Its  Benefits  and  Character. 

2.  The  Order  of  Procedure. 

3.  Its  Inward  Significance, 


180       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

VIII.     The  Book  of  the  Perusal  of  the  Koran. 
IX.     The  Book  of  Zikr  and  Prayer. 
X.     The  Book  of  the  Night  Meditation. 

"  THINGS  THAT  PERTAIN  TO  PRACTICE  " 
I.    The  Ethics  of  Eating  and  Drinking. 
II.    The  Ethics  of  Marriage. 

III.  The  Ethics  of  Trade. 

IV.  Things  that  are  Allowed  and  Forbidden. 
V.    Ethics  of  Friendship  and  Conversation. 

VI.    The  Life  of  Seclusion. 
VII.    The  Ethics  of  Journeying. 
VIII.    The  Ethics  of  Music  and  Poetry. 
IX.    On  Favours  and  Offenses. 
X.    The  Ethics  of.  True  Living  and  the  Virtues  of 
the  Prophet. 

"  THINGS  THAT  DESTROY  THE  SOUL  " 
I.    The  Wonders  of  the  Heart. 
II.     The  Exercise  of  the  Soul. 

III.  The  Dangers  of  the  Two  Desires,  namely,  of 

the  Appetite  and  of  Lust. 

IV.  The  Evils  of  the  Tongue. 

V.    The  Evils  of  Anger  and  Envy. 
VI.     On  Despising  the  World. 
VII.     On  Despising  Property  and  Greed. 
VIII.     On    Despising    the    Love   of    Honour    and 

Hypocrisy. 
IX.     On  Despising  Vanities. 

"  THINGS  THAT  DELIVER  THE  SOUL  " 
I.    The  Book  of  Repentance. 
II.    The  Book  of  Patience  and  Thankfulness. 


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^^^(^^ 

^^dt^Vjj  Ulj'^^c  b^.J^ 

ill^j-  UIIJIL  Jl  ^Ui-VUc  Ll-l 
'^ jll  Life  ^L l^U^O0 
^^ 

.jlii  j^ Jc^l-Jlj^^j-tJl Jalbjj 
l^JUJl  j,>!Sfli:| J^ia. JL^rOAlail^l.i 


A  facsimile  page  of  the  Ihya  (Vol.  II,  page  180,  Cairo  Ed.).    It 

gives  a  diagram  of  the  prayer  kibla  and  the  rules  to  be 

observed  in  facing  it  correctly. 


HIS  WRITINGS  181 

III.  The  Book  of  Fear. 

IV.  The  Book  of  Poverty  and  Asceticism. 
V.    The  Book  of  the  Unity  of  God. 

VI.  The  Book  of  Love. 

VII.  The  Book  of  Good  Intent  and  Sincerity. 

VIII.  The  Book  of  Self-examination. 

IX.  The  Book  of  Meditation. 

X.  The  Book  of  the  Remembrance  of  Death. 

Especially  the  third  and  fourth  parts  of  his 
great  work  show  us  Al-Ghazali  as  a  mystic  and  a 
preacher  of  righteousness.  His  ten  books  on 
"  Things  that  deliver  the  soul "  furnish  material 
from  which  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  collect  a 
beautiful  anthology  or  a  daily  calendar  of  spiritual 
thoughts.  Such  a  rosary  of  pearls  from  Al- 
Ghazali's  works  might  well  be  used  for  devotion  by 
Christians  as  well  as  by  Moslems. 

Another  most  interesting  book  is  that  on  the 
names  of  God,  entitled  Al-Maksad  ul-Asna  Shark- 
Asma' -Allah  ul  Husna,  "The  Highest  Aim:  the 
Explanation  of  the  Beautiful  Names  of  God." 
The  book  is  divided  into  three  parts  of  which  the 
first  deals  philosophically  with  the  meaning  of  the 
word  "  name  "  and  its  distinction  from  the  nam- 
ing of  the  thing  and  the  thing  named  itself:  also 
how  it  is  possible  for  God  to  have  many  names  and 
yet  to  be  one  essence.  The  second  part  of  the  book 
is  the  longest  and  treats  of  the  ninety-nine  names  of 
God  in  order  showing  how  they  are  comprehended 
in  the  seven  attributes  and  the  one  essence.  The 


182       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

third  part  is  brief  and  shows  that  there  are  really 
more  than  ninety-nine  names,  but  that  this  was  the 
number  fixed  upon  for  good  reasons.  And  finally 
there  is  a  section  telling  how  God  may  and  may  not 
be  described. 

Al-Ghazali  teaches  in  this  book  that  the  imitation 
of  God's  attributes  is  the  highest  happiness  for  the 
believer.  There  are  three  degrees  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  God,  and  in  this  respect  he  says:  "The 
virtues  of  the  righteous  are  the  faults  of  the 
Saints  " ;  by  which  he  means  that  the  nearer  we 
approach  to  God  the  more  perfect  is  our  standard 
of  character.  The  three  degrees  of  knowledge  are 
(1)  intellectual,  (2)  that  of  admiration  and  at- 
tempted imitation,  (3)  that  of  actual  acquirements 
of  God's  attributes  such  as  the  angels.  Nearness 
to  God  is  by  rank  and  degree,  not  in  regard  to  posi- 
tion or  place.  He  quotes  with  approval  the  famous 
saying  of  Junaid:  "  No  one  knows  God  save  God 
Himself  Most  High,  and  therefore  even  to  the  best 
of  His  creatures  He  has  only  revealed  His  names, 
in  which  He  hides  Himself."  He  says  that  two 
statements  are  true  in  regard  to  God  and  the 
believer.  The  true  believer  must  say,  "  I  know 
nothing  but  God,"  and  "  I  know  nothing  of 
God." 

The  last  book  Al-Ghazali  wrote  was  the  Minhaj 
al-Abidin  or  "  Guide  of  True  Worshippers."  It 
is  said  to  have  been  written  for  those  who  could  not 
understand  the  Ihya  and  deals  with  the  creed  and 


HIS  WEITINGS  183 

ritual  of  Islam  from  the  standpoint  of  the  mystic. 
Our  illustration  shows  in  facsimile  the  first  page  of 
this  celebrated  work  from  a  recent  Cairo  edition. 
On  the  margin  of  the  text  we  have  the  Beginner's 
Guide,  already  spoken  of.  These  two  works  of 
Al-Ghazali  are  very  popular  and  have  recently  had 
an  increasing  circulation. 

The  Minhaj  shows  that  Al-Ghazali  at  the  close 
of  his  life  had  adopted  the  vocabulary  of  the  mys- 
tics even  for  popular  teaching.  The  various  chap- 
ters are  called  "  stages  "  in  the  progress  of  the  soul 
towards  salvation  and  peace.  The  first  stage  is 
that  of  knowledge,  then  follows  repentance,  a  list 
of  the  hindrances  on  the  road  to  God,  things  that 
delay  the  soul  in  its  onward  progress,  such  as  the 
world  and  its  allurements,  the  flesh,  the  devil,  the 
senses.  Other  hindrances  are  the  cares  of  gaining 
a  living,  the  perplexities  and  troubles  of  life,  while 
the  last  stages  in  the  road  of  the  mystic  are  those 
of  praise  to  God  under  all  circumstances,  and  ear- 
nest endeavour  to  attain  to  the  reality  of  the  ex- 
perience of  His  presence. 

So  difficult  is  the  road  which  Al-Ghazali  de- 
scribes that  he  says:  "  Some  seekers  can  only  finish 
these  stages  in  seventy  years,  some  in  twenty,  some 
in  ten.  Others  there  are,  however,  whose  souls  are 
so  enlightened,  so  free  from  the  care  and  perplexity 
of  the  world,  that  they  finish  the  journey  and  arrive 
at  the  goal  in  a  year,  a  month,  what  do  I  say,  in  an 
hour;  so  that  they  awaken  like  the  Companions  of 


184       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

the  Cave,  and  the  change  they  see  in  themselves  and 
those  about  them  is  to  them  as  a  dream." 

His  teaching  on  prayer  as  given  in  the  Ihya  cer- 
tainly rises  very  high  above  that  of  the  ritualist 
who  puts  all  his  attention  on  the  punctiliousness  of 
outward  observance.  "  Prayers  are  of  three  de- 
grees, of  which  the  first  are  those  that  are  simply 
spoken  with  the  lips.  Prayers  are  of  the  second 
kind  when  with  difficulty,  and  only  by  a  most  reso- 
lute effort,  the  soul  is  able  to  fix  its  thoughts  on 
divine  things  without  being  disturbed  by  evil  im- 
aginations; they  are  of  the  third  kind  when  one 
finds  it  difficult  to  turn  away  the  mind  from  dwell- 
ing on  divine  things.  But  it  is  the  very  marrow  of 
prayer  when  He  who  is  invoked  takes  possession  of 
the  soul  of  the  suppliant,  and  the  soul  of  him  who 
prays  is  absorbed  into  God,  to  whom  he  prays,  and, 
his  prayer  ceasing,  all  consciousness  of  self  has  de- 
parted, and  to  such  a  degree  that  all  thought  what- 
soever of  the  praying  is  felt  as  a  veil  between  the 
soul  and  God.  This  state  is  called  by  the  Sufis 
*  absorption/  for  the  reason  that  the  man  is  so  ab- 
sorbed that  he  takes  no  thought  of  his  body,  or  of 
anything  that  happens  externally,  or  even  of  the 
movements  of  his  own  soul,  but  is  first  engaged  in 
going  towards  his  Lord,  and  finally  is  wholly  in  his 
Lord.  If  even  the  thought  occurs  that  he  is  ab- 
sorbed in  the  Absolute  it  is  a  blemish,  for  that 
absorption  only  is  worthy  of  the  name,  though  they 
will  be  called,  as  I  well  know,  but  foolish  babbling 


HIS  WEITINGS  185 

by  raw  theologians,  are  yet  by  no  means  without 
significance.  For  consider:  The  condition  of 
which  I  speak  resembles  that  of  a  person  who  loves 
any  other  object,  such  as  wealth,  honour,  or  pleas- 
ure. We  see  such  persons  so  carried  away  with 
their  love,  and  others  with  their  anger,  that  they  do 
not  hear  one  who  speaks  to  them,  nor  see  those 
passing  before  their  eyes.  Nay,  so  absorbed  are 
they  in  their  passion  that  they  do  not  perceive  their 
absorption ;  you  necessarily;  turn  it  away  from  that 
which  is  the  object  of  it/* 

Elsewhere  Al-Ghazali  says:  "The  commence- 
ment of  this  life  is  the  going  to  God ;  then  follows 
the  finding  Him,  when  the  absorption  takes  place. 
This  at  first  is  momentary,  as  the  lightning  swiftly 
glancing  upon  the  eye,  but  afterwards,  confirmed 
by  use,  it  introduces  the  soul  into  a  higher  world, 
where,  the  most  pure  essential  essence  meeting  it, 
fills  the  soul  with  the  images  of  the  spiritual  world, 
while  the  majesty  of  Deity  discovers  itself." 

The  evident  sincerity  and  the  moral  earnestness 
of  Al-Ghazali  shown  in  his  works  and  in  the  ex- 
tracts which  we  have  quoted,  surely  explains  in  a 
large  degree  why  his  influence  has  been  so  deep  and 
permanent,  far  greater  than  that  of  the  merely  in- 
tellectual philosophers,  such  as  Averroes.  While 
he  discouraged  scholastic  philosophy,  he  encour- 
aged moral  philosophy.  The  reader  will  remember 
how  he  carried  a  book  of  ethics  with  him  on  his 
journeys.  After  his  death  several  famous  ethical 


186       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

treatises  were  composed  which  derived  much  from 
him.  Claud  Field  says  "  the  most  important  of 
these  is  the  'Akhlaq-i-Jalali/  by  Jalaluddin  Asa'ad 
Aldawani,  which  has  been  ably  translated  into 
English  by  Mr.  W.  F.  Thompson.  The  'Akhlaq-i- 
Jalali '  itself  is  largely  a  translation  into  Persian 
from  the  Arabic,  the  original  of  which  appeared  in 
the  tenth  century  under  the  name  of  '  Kitab-ut- 
Taharat.'  Two  centuries  after  it  was  translated 
into  Persian  by  Abu  Nasr,  and  named  'Akhlaq 
Nasiri/  enriched  with  some  important  additions 
from  Avicenna.  In  the  fifteenth  century  it  as- 
sumed a  still  further  improved  form  under  its  pres- 
ent name,  the  '  Akhlaq-i-Jalali.'  "  * 

That  Al-Ghazali  was  a  careful  student  of  nature 
is  evident  in  all  his  writings.  Those  portions  of 
the  Koran  which  deal  with  natural  theology  and 
the  proof  of  God's  existence  from  the  starry 
heavens,  from  the  fertile  ground,  the  animal  crea- 
tion, and  the  sea  with  its  terrors,  especially  seem  to 
appeal  to  him.  One  of  his  books  is  entitled  Al 
Hikmat  fi  Makhlukat  Allah  (The  Wisdom  of  God 
Shown  in  the  Marvels  of  Creation).  It  is  one  of 
his  shorter  writings  but  full  of  beautiful  passages 
on  the  glory  of  the  starry  heavens,  the  earth  and 
the  sea,  and  the  four  primal  elements.  One  long 
chapter  is  devoted  to  embryology  and  the  physical 
wonders  of  the  human  frame.  Another  is  on  birds, 
another  on  quadrupeds  and  on  fishes.  The  con- 
'"The  Mystics  of  Islam." 


HIS  WEITINGS  187 

elusion  of  the  whole  treatise  is  the  argument  from 
design,  for  the  goodness  and  greatness  of  the  Cre- 
ator as  shown  in  His  works.  What  he  says  in  re- 
gard to  the  benefits  to  be  obtained  from  gazing  into 
the  starry  vault  may  be  compared  with  David's 
words  in  the  eighth  and  the  nineteenth  Psalms. 
Says  Al-Ghazali:  "  To  look  up  into  the  vault  of 
heaven  drives  away  anxiety,  removes  the  whisper- 
ings of  Satan,  takes  away  idle  fear,  reminds  us  of 
God,  brings  the  heart  to  magnify  Him,  banishes 
evil  thoughts,  cures  pessimism,  comforts  the  pas- 
sionate, delights  the  lover,  and  it  is  the  best  Kibla 
for  those  who  call  to  God  in  prayer." 

Al-Ghazali  was  also  a  dogmatic  theologian  and 
controversialist.  He  wrote  a  commentary  on  the 
Koran  in  forty  volumes, never  printed;  and  a  dozen 
books  against  various  heretics,  including  one  en- 
titled: "  The  Best  Reply  to  Those  Who  Have  Tam- 
pered with  the  Gospel."  Al-Ghazali,  who  was 
himself  cursed  for  alleged  heresy,  is  memorable 
among  the  theologians  of  Islam  in  that  by  his 
breadth  of  sympathy  he  forbade  the  cursing  of 
Yazid,  the  notorious  slayer  of  Hussein,  Moham- 
med's grandson,  and  gave  his  opinion  in  these 
words:  "  It  is  forbidden  to  curse  a  Moslem:  Yazid 
was  a  Moslem.  It  is  not  certain  that  he  slew  Al- 
Husain,  and  it  is  forbidden  to  think  ill  of  a  Mos- 
lem. We  cannot  be  certain  that  he  ordered  his 
death ;  really  we  cannot  be  certain  of  the  cause  of 
the  death  of  any  great  man,  especially  at  such  a 


188       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

distance  of  time.  We  have  also  to  remember  the 
party  spirit  and  false  statements  in  this  particular 
case.  Again,  if  he  did  kill  him,  he  is  not  an  unbe- 
liever because  of  that;  he  is  only  disobedient  to 
God.  Again,  he  may  have  repented  before  he  died. 
Further,  to  abstain  from  cursing  is  no  crime.  No 
one  will  be  asked  if  he  ever  cursed  Satan;  if  he  has 
cursed  him  he  may  be  asked,  Why  ?  The  only  ac- 
cursed ones  of  whom  we  know  are  those  who  die 
infidels."  * 

Among  his  books  against  the  philosophers  we 
must  mention  three  which  are  closely  related  to 
one  another.  They  are  the  Maqasid-iil-Falasifa,  a 
statement  of  the  true  teachings  of  the  philosophers 
and  a  presentation  of  their  views  of  the  world ;  the 
Tahafut  ul  Fqlasifa  which  overthrows  their  views 
and  shows  that  they  are  untenable  to  those  who 
would  follow  Islam  with  heart  and  mind;  the 
Qawa'id,  which  shows  the  truths  that  must  be  built 
up  to  take  the  place  of  the  errors  of  the  philos- 
ophers. In  the  first-named  book,  according  to 
Macdonald,  he  "  smites  the  philosophers  hip  and 
thigh,  turns  their  own  weapons  against  them  and 
goes  to  the  extreme  of  intellectual  scepticism;  seven 
hundred  years  before  Hume  he  cuts  the  6ond 
of  causality  with  the  edge  of  his  dialectic  and 
proclaims  that  we  can  know  nothing  of  cause 
or  effect,  but  simply  that  one  thing  follows  an- 
other." 

1  Macdonald,  p.  72. 


HIS  WETTINGS  189 

Al-Ghazali's  great  work  "The  Revival  of  Re- 
ligious Sciences,"  caused  great  scandal  in  Anda/ 
lusia.  There  the  intolerance  of  the  learned  passed 
all  bounds  because  of  the  narrowness  of  their 
views.  Their  theology  was  limited  to  minute 
knowledge  of  Canon  Law.  They  had  no  place 
for  the  religion  which  Ghazali  preached,  which  was 
personal  and  passionate,  a  religion  of  the  heart. 
When  he  attacked  contemporary  theologians  busy 
with  questions  of  legality  and  the  externals  of  re- 
ligion, he  touched  these  pharisees  of  the  law  at  the 
quick  and  they  not  only  squirmed  but  screamed 
loudly.  According  to  Dozy,  "  the  Kady  of  Cor- 
dova, Ibn  Hamdin,  declared  that  any  man  who  read 
Al-Ghazali's  book  was  an  infidel  ripe  for  damna- 
tion, and  he  drew  up  a  fatwa  condemning  all  copies 
of  the  book  to  the  flames.  This  fatwa,  signed  by 
the  Fakihs  of  Cordova,  was  formally  approved  by 
'Ali.  Al-Ghazali's  book  was  accordingly  burnt  in 
Cordova  and  all  the  other  cities  of  the  Empire,  and 
possession  of  a  copy  was  interdicted  on  pain  of 
death  and  confiscation  of  property." 

But  this  opinion  was  not  shared  by  Moslems 
elsewhere.  In  his  lifetime  and  especially  after  his 
death  his  works  against  philosophy  and  his  great 
exposition  of  Islam  found  ever  larger  circles  of 
readers  and  commentators. 

He  has  been  accused,  and  not  without  good  rea- 
son, both  by  Moslem  writers  and  European  critics, 
of  carelessness  and  inaccuracy  in  his  quotations 


190       A  MOSLEM  SEBKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

and  references  to  other  books.1  One  of  the  charges 
brought  against  him  by  his  assailants  is  that  he 
falsified  Tradition.  Macdonald's  judgment  is  very 
charitable  when  he  says  that  "he  quoted  from 
memory  too  freely,  because  he  was  a  man  of  too 
large  a  calibre  to  watch  his  quotations  and  they 
were  loose  to  the  end  of  his  life/' 

As-Subqi  in  his  Tabakat-ash-Shafa'iya  al  Kubra 
devotes  a  special  section  to  what  is  entitled  "A  List 
of  all  the  Traditions  given  by  Al-Ghazali  in  his 
Ihya  which  have  no  isnad,  or  pedigree,  i.  e.,  Tradi- 
tions quoted  by  him  as  authoritative  and  yet  which 
from  the  standpoint  of  Moslem  criticism  are  on 
this  account  absolutely  worthless.  This  section  of 
the  book  referred  to  covers  many  pages  and  by 
actual  count  I  found  over  six  hundred  Traditions 
each  catalogued  by  reference  to  the  chapter  in 
which  they  occur.  Now  we  have  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  As-Subqi  (d.  771  A.  H.)  was  an  ad- 
mirer of  Al-Ghazali  and  esteemed  his  teaching,  yet 
what  shall  we  say  when  in  this  collection  of  the 
lives  of  the  saints  so  strong  an  indictment  is  made 
of  Al-Ghazali's  inaccuracy  by  one  of  his  own  dis- 
ciples ? 

When  reading  this  collection  of  "  true  sayings  " 
of  the  Prophet  (which  are  after  all  often  ascribed 
to  him  without  any  authority  or  foundation)  one  is 
shocked  both  at  the  credulity  and  the  lack  of  love 

1  Compare  the  two  statements  facing  this  chapter ;  also  the 
references  to  "  The  Gospel,"  in  Chapter  IX. 


HIS  WETTINGS  191 

for  veracity  in  this  greatest  of  all  Moslem  apolo- 
gists. If  even  Al-G-hazali  handled  Tradition  so 
carelessly  as  to  ascribe  to  Mohammed  so  much  that 
is  altogether  puerile,  fabulous  and  often  immoral, 
what  confidence  can  we  put  in  other  and  later  tra- 
dition-mongers and  how  can  we  clear  Al-Ghazali 
from  the  charge  of  using  pious  falsehood? 
'  We  add  another  fact  of  great  interest  in  regard 
to  his  writings.  Al-Ghazali  exercised  a  command- 
ing influence  on  Jewish  thought  in  the  Middle 
Ages.  In  the  appendix  is  a  list  of  some  of  the 
translations  of  his  books  made  in  Hebrew.  Jewish 
students  of  philosophy,  including  Maimonides, 
drew  many  of  their  theories  from  the  Maqasid  and 
his  other  works.  Al-Ghazali's  attacks  on  philos- 
ophy were  imitated  by  Judah  ha-Levy  in  his 
Cuzari;  but  it  was  chiefly  his  ethical  teaching  rather 
than  through  his  philosophy  that  Al-Ghazali  at- 
tracted the  Jewish  thinkers.  Broyde  says,  "  He 
approached  the  ethical  ideal  of  Judaism  to  such  an 
extent  that  some  supposed  him  to  be  actually  drift- 
ing in  that  direction,  and  his  works  were  eagerly 
studied  and  used  by  Jewish  writers.  Abraham  ibn 
Ezra  borrowed  from  Al-Ghazali's  Mizan  al  'Amal 
his  comparison  between  the  limbs  of  the  human 
body  and  the  functionaries  of  a  king,  and  used  it 
for  the  subject  of  his  beautiful  admonition  Yeshene 
Leb;  Abraham  ibn  Dawud  borrowed  from  the  same 
work  the  parable  used  by  Al-Ghazali  to  prove  the 
difference  in  value  between  various  branches  of 


192       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

science ;  and  Simon  Duran  cites  in  his  Keshet  a  pas- 
sage from  the  Mozene  ha-Iyyunim,  which  he  calls 
Mozene  ha-Hokmah." 

The  translations  of  his  works  into  Hebrew  were 
made  as  early  as  the  thirteenth  century.  Not  less 
than  eleven  Hebrew  commentaries  are  known  on 
the  Maqasid.  "  Johanan  Alemanno  recommends 
Ghazali's  hermeneutic  methods,  and  compares 
the  order  and  graduation  of  lights  in  Ghazali's 
theory  with  those  of  the  theory  of  the  cabalists." 

In  regard  to  science,  Al-Ghazali's  views  were 
naturally  those  of  his  contemporaries.  His  world 
was  built  on  the  Ptolemaic  system.  There  are 
four  elements  only.  Existence  has  three  modes: 
the  world  of  sense,  the  world  of  God's  eternal  de- 
cree, and  the  world  of  ideals  or  of  God's  power. 
In  dreams  and  visions  we  are  in  contact  with  the 
two  other  worlds.  Al-Ghazali  avoids  the  difficul- 
ties of  concrete  Moslem  teaching  by  this  method. 
There  may  be  things  which  are  real  and  actual  and 
yet  do  not  belong  to  the  world  of  sense.2 

Doctor  Macdonald  admirably  summarizes  his 
influence  on  Islam  as  four-fold.  "  First  of  all  he 
led  men  back  from  mere  scholastic  dogma  to  a  liv- 
ing contact  with  the  Koran  and  the  Traditions  as 
the  true  source  of  Islam.  He  might  be  called  a 
Biblical  theologian  in  our  modern  use  of  the  word, 
understanding  by  '  Bible  '  always  the  Moslem  bible, 

'"Jewish  Encyclopaedia,"  article  "Ghazali." 
*  Macdonald. 


HIS  WHITINGS  193 

namely  the  Koran.  Nearly  every  paragraph  of 
his  Ihya  begins  with  a  Koran  quotation,  and  his 
interpretation  of  the  book  is  not  a  slavish  following 
of  the  earlier  commentators  but  a  spiritual  interpre- 
tation of  the  text." 

"  In  the  second  place  he  reintroduced  into  Islam 
the  element  of  fear.  In  the  earliest  days,  as  for 
example  in  the  Koran  itself,  the  terrors  of  the  day 
of  judgment  and  the  horrors  of  hell  operated  in 
order  to  lead  men  to  repentance.  Al-Ghazali  em- 
phasized this  part  of  the  Moslem  teaching  to  the 
utmost,  witness  his  little  book  Al-Durra  al~Fak- 
hira,  which  has  to  this  day  great  acceptance  among 
pious  Moslems." 

In  the  third  place  mysticism,  already  existing  in 
Islam,  but  looked  upon  in  many  quarters  as  heret- 
ical, received  its  birthright  through  Al-Ghazali's 
life  and  teachings,  and  from  his  day  on  held  an 
assured  position  in  orthodox  Islam. 

Lastly,  he  brought  philosophy  within  the  range 
of  the  ordinary  mind,  warning  the  people  against 
its  dangers  as  well  as  showing  them  its  fundamental 
principles  and  above  all  illustrating  through  his 
writings  how  true  philosophy  and  true  Islam  are 
not  contradictory.  In  this  respect  he  resembles 
Raymond  Lull  who  also  desired  to  use  philosophy 
as  the  handmaid  of  Christianity/ 

1  In  regard  to  the  influence  of  Al-Ghazali's  writings,  R. 
Gosche  remarks :  "  It  is  characteristic  how  his  influence  has 
spread.  The  later  mystical  portions  of  his  Ihya  have  es- 


194       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

Macdonald  thinks  that  of  these  four  phases  of 
his  work  and  influence  the  first  and  the  third  were 
undoubtedly  the  most  important.  These  alone 
made  him  a  reformer  of  the  first  rank  in  the  history 
of  Islam. 

pecially  influenced  Mohammedan  circles  in  India.  His  two 
works  on  philosophy  exerted  influence  in  Spain  and  among 
later  Jewish  writers,  for  the  best  manuscripts  of  the  Tahafut 
are  found  in  Maghrabi  character." 


VII 

His  Ethics 


"The  religion  of  Christ  contains  whole  fields  of 
morality  and  whole  realms  of  thought  which  are  all 
but  outside  the  religion  of  Mohammed.  It  opens 
humility,  purity  of  heart,  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
sacrifice  of  self  to  man's  moral  nature;  it  gives  scope 
for  toleration,  development,  boundless  progress  to  his 
mind ;  its  motive  power  is  stronger,  even  as  a  friend 
is  better  than  a  king  and  love  higher  than  obedience. 
Its  realized  ideals  in  the  various  paths  of  human 
greatness  have  been  more  commanding,  more  many- 
sided,  more  holy,  as  Averroes  is  below  Newton, 
Haroun  below  Alfred,  and  'AH  below  St.  Paul. 
Finally,  the  ideal  life  of  all  is  far  more  elevating,  far 
more  majestic,  far  more  inspiring  even  as  the  life  of 
the  founder  of  Mohammedanism  is  below  the  life  of 
the  Founder  of  Christianity." 

— "  Life  of  Mohammed,"  R.  Bosworth  Smith. 


VII 
HIS  ETHICS 

MARTENSEN  defines  Christian  ethics  as 
"  the  science  of  morals  conditioned  by 
Christianity."  But  the  three  funda- 
mental concepts  of  Christian  ethics  are  all  of  them 
challenged  by  the  teaching  of  Islam.  The  Mo- 
hammedan idea  of  the  Highest  Good,  of  Virtue 
and  of  the  Moral  Law  are  not  in  accord  with  those 
of  Christianity.  This  is  evident  both  from  the 
character  of  Mohammed  himself  and  from  his  re- 
corded sayings.  Ideal  virtue  is  to  be  found 
through  imitation  of  Mohammed.  And  the  moral 
law  is  practically  abrogated  because  of  loose  views 
as  to  its  real  character,  its  teaching  and  finality. 
"  The  ethics  of  Islam  bear  the  character  of  an  out- 
wardly and  crudely  conceived  doctrine:  of  righteous- 
ness; conscientiousness  in  the  sphere  of  the  social 
relations,  faithfulness  to  conviction  and  to  one's 
word,  and  the  bringing  of  an  action  into  relation  to 
God,  are  its  bright  points;  but  there  is  a  lack  of 
heart-depth,  of  a  basing  of  the  moral  in  love.  The 
highest  good  is  the  very  outwardly  and  very  sensu- 
ously conceived  happiness  of  the  individual." 

1  Adolf  Wuttke,  "  Christian  Ethics,"  Vol.  I,  p.  172. 
197 


198       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  APTEB  GOD 

This  statement  needs  no  proof  to  those  who 
know  Islam  from  its  original  sources,  the  Koran 
and  Tradition.  Professor  Margoliouth  uses  lan- 
guage which  is  strong  but  not  unfair  when  he  says 
in  regard  to  the  saints  of  the  Moslem  calendar — 
that  is  the  companions  and  followers  of  Moham- 
med— "Those  who  recount  the  history  of  Islam 
have  to  lay  aside  all  ordinary  canons  of  morality, 
else  the  picture  would  have  no  lights;  they  could 
not  write  at  all  if  they  let  themselves  be  shocked  by 
perfidy  or  bloodthirstiness,  by  cruelty  or  lust,  yet 
both  the  Koran  and  Tradition  forbid  the  first  three, 
and  assign  some  limits  to  the  fourth."  A  stream 
cannot  rise  higher  than  its  source ;  a  tower  cannot 
be  broader  than  its  foundation.  The  measure  of 
the  moral  stature  of  Mohammed  is  the  source  and 
foundation  of  all  moral  ideals  in  Islam.  His  con- 
duct is  the  standard  of  character.  We  need  not  be 
surprised,  therefore,  that  the  ethical  standard  is  so 
low  even  in  Al-Ghazali,  although  he  ofttimes  rises 
high  above  the  Koran  and  the  Prophet. 

In  nearly  every  one  of  his  books  on  morals  the 
Prophet  of  Arabia  is  held  up  as  the  highest  ideal 
of  character.  In  his  "  Precious  Pearl,"  however, 
there  is  a  passage  quoted  from  a  tradition  in  which 
he  pays  this  high  tribute  to  Jesus  Christ  (page  24 
Cairo  Edition),  "Go  to  Jesus,  on  Him  be  peace,  for 
He  is  the  truest  of  those  who  were  sent  as  apostles, 
and  who  knew  most  of  God,  and  the  most  ascetic  in 
life  of  them  all,  and  the  most  eloquent  of  all  in 


HIS  ETHICS  199 

wisdom,  perchance  He  will  intercede  for  you." 
The  quotation,  however,  refers  to  the  day  of  resur- 
rection when  the  various  nations  seek  God's  favour 
and  forgiveness. 

When  we  consider  the  age  in  which  Al-Ghazali 
lived  and  his  Moslem  education  in  ethics,  Macdonald 
says,1  "  the  position  of  Al-Ghazali  is  a  simple  one. 
All  our  laws  and  theories  upon  the  subject, 
the  analysis  of  the  qualities  of  the  mind,  good  and 
bad,  the  tracing  of  hidden  defects  to  their  causes, 
and  the  methods  of  combating  these  causes, — all 
these  things  [Al-Ghazali  teaches]  we  owe  to  the 
saints  of  God  to  whom  God  Himself  has  revealed 
them.  Of  these  there  have  been  many  at  all  times 
and  in  all  countries, — God  has  never  left  Himself 
without  a  witness, — and  without  them  and  their 
labours  and  the  light  which  God  has  vouchsafed  to 
them  we  could  never  know  ourselves.  Here  as 
everywhere,  comes  out  clearly  Al-Ghazali's  funda- 
mental position  that  the  ultimate  source  of  all 
knowledge  is  revelation  from  God.  It  may  be 
major  revelation,  through  accredited  prophets  who 
come  forward  as  teachers,  divinely  sent  and  sup- 
ported by  miracles  and  by  the  evident  truth  of  their 
message  appealing  to  the  human  heart;  or  it  may 
be  minor  revelation — subsidiary  and  explanatory — 
through  the  vast  body  of  saints  of  different  grades 
to  whom  God  has  granted  immediate  knowledge  of 
Himself.  Where  the  saints  leave  off,  the  prophets 
1  Macdonald,  pp.  118-119. 


200       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

begin ;  and,  apart  from  such  teaching,  man,  even  in 
physical  science,  would  be  groping  in  the  dark." 

But  we  must  -add  to  this  clear  statement  of  Al- 
Ghazali's  theory  of  ethics,  lest  it  be  wholly  misun- 
derstood, that  the  revelation  referred  to  is  the 
Koran  and  that  "the  saints"  were  the  Moslem 
saints  of  the  early  Caliphate,  and  their  followers. 

Moslem  doctors  of  jurisprudence,  including  Al- 
Ghazali,  define  sin  as  "  a  conscious  act  of  a  respon- 
sible being  against  known  law."  Therefore  sins 
of  ignorance  and  of  childhood  are  not  reckoned  as 
real  sin.x  They  divide  sin  into  "  great "  and  "  lit- 
tle" sins.  Some  say  there  are  seven  great  sins: 
idolatry,  murder,  false  charge  of  adultery,  wasting 
the  substance  of  orphans,  taking  interest  on  money, 
desertion  from  Jihad  and  disobedience  to  parents. 
Others  say  there  are  seventeen,  and  include  wine- 
drinking,  witchcraft  and  perjury  among  them. 
The  lack  of  all  distinction  between  the  ceremonial 
and  the  moral  law  is  very  evident  in  the  traditional 
sayings  of  Mohammed,  which  are,  of  course,  at  the 
basis  of  ethics.  Take  one  example:  "  The  Prophet, 
upon  him  be  prayers  and  peace,  said,  One  dirhem 
of  usury  which  a  man  takes  knowing  it  to  be  so 
is  more  grievous  than  thirty-six  fornications, 
and  whosoever  has  done  so  is  worthy  of  hell- 
fire." 

Orthodox  Moslems  divide  sins  into  greater  and 
lesser.  Al-Ghazali  quotes  one  who  said,  "  There 
are  no  greater  and  lesser  sins,  but  everything  which 


HIS  ETHICS  201 

is  contrary  to  God's  will  is  a  great  sin,"  but  gives 
Koran  passages  contradicting  this  and  then  escapes 
the  moral  difficulty  by  showing  that  the  smaller 
sins  may  become  great  if  we  continue  in  them: 
"  like  the  dropping  of  water  wearing  away  a 
stone  " ;  and  "  when  the  servant  of  God  reckons  his 
sin  great,  God  reckons  it  small,  and  when  he 
reckons  it  small,  then  God  reckons  it  great." 

He  divides  the  sins  which  overcome  the  heart 
into  four  classes :  egoistic,  satanic,  brutal  and  cruel. 
Under  the  first  he  puts  pride,  conceit,  boasting, 
selfishness,  etc. ;  envy,  hatred,  deceit,  malice,  cor- 
ruption and  unbelief,  belong  to  the  second;  while 
greed,  gluttony,  lust,  adultery,  sodomy,  theft,  and 
the  robbing  of  orphans  are  classed  as  brutal  sins; 
and  anger,  passion,  abuse,  cursing,  murder,  rob- 
bery, etc.,  are  cruel. 

Yet  in  all  of  Al-Ghazali's  works  on  ethics  and 
many  of  his  smaller  treatises  are  on  this  subject, 
there  is  no  clear  distinction  made  between  the  ritual 
and  the  moral  law.  In  fact  one  word  used  for 
ethics  in  Arabic  (addb)  refers  to  propriety  of  con- 
duct, etiquette,  politeness,  and  decency  in  outward 
behaviour,  reverence  in  the  presence  of  superiors, 
rather  than  to  the  keeping  of  the  ten  command- 
ments or  of  the  principles  that  are  fundamental  to 
noble  character.  This  becomes  very  clear  when  we 
study  the  contents,  for  example,  of  one  of  his 
shorter  books  entitled  Al-Adab  fi  Din  (Ethics  in 
Religion). 


202       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

The  book  begins  by  giving  the  basis  of  ethical 
teaching  in  these  words:  "  Praise  be  to  God  who 
created  us  and  perfected  our  creation,  and  taught 
us  morals  and  beautified  our  morals,  and  honoured 
us  by  sending  His  Prophet  Mohammed  (upon 
whom  may  God's  blessing  rest),  and  hath  taught 
us  how  to  honour  him.  Truly  the  most  perfect  ele- 
ment in  character  and  the  most  elevated,  and  the 
best  of  good  works,  and  the  most  glorious,  is  cor- 
rect behaviour  as  regards  religion,  which  teaches 
what  a  true  believer  should  know  of  the  work  of 
the  Lord  of  the  worlds  and  the  Creator  of  the 
prophets  and  apostles ;  and  God  hath  taught  us  and 
clearly  enlightened  us  concerning  this  in  the  Koran, 
and  hath  given  us  the  example  of  conduct  in  his 
Prophet  Mohammed  according  to  his  Traditions. 
He  is  our  example,  and  likewise  are  his  companions 
and  immediate  followers.  These  have  shown  us 
what  it  is  necessary  for  us  to  follow  in  their  con- 
duct, which  we  have  here  recorded  for  all  those 
who  would  follow." 

The  paragraphs  or  sections  of  this  handbook 
are  entitled:  Ethics  of  the  believer  in  the  presence 
of  God ;  of  the  teacher;  of  the  pupil;  of  those  who 
hear  the  Koran  read ;  of  the  reader ;  of  the  schdol- 
teacher;  of  those  who  seek  to  understand  Tradi- 
tion; of  the  scribe;  of  the  preacher;  of  the  ascetic; 
of  the  nobleman;  ethics  of  sleeping;  of  night- 
watching;  of  fulfilling  a  call  of  nature ;  of  the  bath ; 
of  washing;  of  entering  the  mosque;  of  the  call  to 


HIS  ETHICS  203 

prayer;  of  prayer;  of  intercession;  of  the  Friday 
sermon;  of  the  feast-days;  of  conduct  during  an 
eclipse;  of  conduct  during  drought;  of  sickness;  of 
funerals;  of  almsgiving;  of  the  rich  and  the  poor; 
of  fasting;  of  pilgrimage;  of  the  merchant;  of  the 
money-changer;  of  eating  and  drinking;  of  mar- 
riage (this  has  several  subdivisions)  ;  of  sitting  by 
the  wayside;  of  the  child  with  its  parents;  of  the 
parent  with  the  child ;  of  brothers ;  of  neighbours ; 
of  the  master  with  the  servant;  of  the  Sultan  with 
his  subjects;  of  the  Judge;  of  the  witness;  of  the 
prisoner.  The  final  chapter  of  this  interesting 
treatise  deals  with  miscellaneous  maxims  on  polite 
behaviour  under  all  circumstances. 

A  translation  of  the  section  on  eating,  which  is 
about  the  same  length  as  the  other  paragraphs,  will 
give  a  clear  idea  of  the  contents:  "One  should 
wash  one's  hands  before  partaking  of  food  and 
after,  and  pronounce  the  name  of  God  before  be- 
ginning to  eat,  and  eat  with  the  right  hand.  Take 
small  portions  from  the  dish,  chew  the  food  thor- 
oughly, and  do  not  look  into  the  faces  of  the  other 
guests  while  you  are  eating ;  nor  should  you  recline 
nor  eat  to  excess  beyond  the  demands  of  hunger; 
and  you  should  ask  to  be  excused  as  soon  as  you 
have  had  enough,  so  that  your  guest  may  not  be 
embarrassed  or  any  one  who  has  greater  need.  And 
one  should  eat  from  the  edge  of  the  platter  and  not 
from  the  middle,  and  wipe  his  fingers  after  the 
meal,  and  return  praise  to  God.  Nor  should  one 


204       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

mention  death  at  dinner  for  fear  of  bringing  bad 
luck  upon  those  who  are  present." 

All  this  is  interesting  and  important,  for  the 
Moslem  child,  as  table  etiquette.  Obedience,  hu- 
mility in  outward  behaviour,  reverence  in  the 
mosque,  respect  "  to  those  above  us  in  age  or  sta- 
tion," and  many  other  social  virtues  are  likewise 
commended.  But  the  omissions  of  the  Book  sur- 
prise us.  There  is  nothing  on  truth,  heart-purity, 
moral  courage  or  the  nobility  of  chivalry — the 
things  that  make  a  man. 

One  section  of  the  Ihya  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  96  ff.) 
deals  with  the  question  as  to  when  lies  are  justifi- 
able, and  clearly  shows  that  according  to  Al-Gha- 
zali,  in  the  realm  of  truth  at  least,  the  end  justifies 
the  means.  "  Know,"  he  says,  "  that  a  lie  is  not 
haram  (wrong)  in  itself,  but  only  because  of  the 
evil  conclusions  to  which  it  leads  the  hearer,  mak- 
ing him  believe  something  that  is  not  really  the 
case.  Ignorance  sometimes  is  an  advantage,  and  if 
a  lie  causes  this  kind  of  ignorance  it  may  be  al- 
lowed. It  is  sometimes  a  duty  to  lie.  Maimun 
Ibn  Muhran  said,  *  A  lie  is  sometimes  better  than 
truth:  for  instance,  if  you  see  a  man  seeking  for 
another  in  order  to  kill  him,  what  do  you  repty  to 
the  question  as  to  where  he  is  ?  Of  course  you  will 
reply  thus,  for  such  a  lie  is  lawful.  We  say  that 
the  end  justifies  the  means.' 

"  If  lying  and  truth  both  lead  to  a  good  result, 
you  must  tell  the  truth,  for  a  lie  is  forbidden  in  this 


HIS  ETHICS  205 

case.  If  a  lie  is  the  only  way  to  reach  a  good  re- 
sult, it  is  allowable  (hallal).  A  lie  is  lawful  when 
it  is  the  only  path  to  duty.  For  example,  if  a  Mos- 
lem flees  from  an  unjust  one  and  you  are  asked 
about  him,  you  are  obliged  to  lie  in  order  to  save 
him.  If  the  outcome  of  war,  reconciliation  be- 
tween two  separated  friends,  or  the  safety  of  an 
oppressed  depends  on  a  lie,  then  a  lie  is  allowed. 
In  all  cases  we  must  be  careful  not  to  lie  when  there 
is  no  necessity  for  it,  lest  it  be  haram  (wrong).  If 
a  wicked  person  asks  a  man  about  his  wealth  he 
has  to  deny  having  any;  and  so  if  a  sultan  asks  a 
man  about  a  crime  he  has  committed,  he  has  to 
deny  it  and  say,  '  I  have  not  stolen/  when  he  did 
steal ; '  nor  done  any  vice/  when  he  has  done.  The 
Prophet  said,  *  He  who  has  done  a  shameful  deed 
must  conceal  it,  for  revealing  one  disgrace  is  an- 
other disgrace/  A  person  must  deny  the  sins  of 
others  as  well.  Making  peace  between  wives  is  a 
duty,  even  by  pretending  to  each  of  them  that  she 
is  loved  the  most,  and  by  making  promises  to  please 
her. 

"  We  must  lie  when  truth  leads  to  unpleasant  re- 
sults, but  tell  the  truth  when  it  leads  to  good  re- 
sults. Lying  for  one's  pleasure,  or  for  increase  of 
wealth,  or  for  fame  is  forbidden.  One  wife  must 
not  lie  for  her  husband  to  tease  another  wife.  Ly- 
ing is  allowed  in  persuading  children  to  go  to 
school ;  also  false  promises  and  false  threats/' 

We  get  another  view  of  Al-Ghazali's  ethics  in  his 


206       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

teaching  regarding  education.  There  is  a  special 
section  in  the  Ihya  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  53)  which  deals 
with  the  education  of  boys  and  the  improvement  of 
their  morals.  It  is  not  surprising  that  nothing  is 
said  as  regards  the  education  of  girls,  for  even  now 
many  Moslem  authorities  consider  it  inadvisable 
that  they  should  be  taught  to  read  and  write.  The 
chapter  referred  to  begins  as  follows: 

"  It  is  most  important  to  know  how  to  bring  up 
a  boy,  for  a  boy  is  a  trust  in  the  hands  of  his  father, 
and  his  pure  heart  is  a  precious  jewel  like  a  tablet 
without  inscription.  It  is  therefore  ready  to  re- 
ceive whatever  impression  is  applied.  If  he  learns 
to  do  good  and  is  taught  it,  he  grows  up  accord- 
ingly, and  is  happy  in  this  world  and  the  next  and 
his  parents  and  teachers  will  have  the  reward  for 
their  action.  But  if  he  learns  evil  and  grows  up  in 
neglect  like  the  dumb  cattle,  he  will  turn  away 
from  the  truth  and  perish,  and  his  sin  will  be  on 
the  neck  of  his  guardian.  Allah  has  said,  '  O  ye 
who  believe,  guard  yourselves  and  your  family 
from  the  fire ;  and  even  as  the  father  would  guard 
his  son  from  the  fire  of  this  world,  by  how  much 
the  more  should  he  guard  him  from  the  fire  of  the 
world  to  come?  He  will  guard  him  from  it  by 
chastising  him  and  educating  him  and  teaching  him 
the  best  virtues.  To  this  end  he  will  only  give  his 
boy  to  be  nursed  by  a  good,  pious  woman  who  eats 
the  proper  food,  for  the  milk  from  forbidden  food 
has  no  blessing  in  it." 


HIS  ETHICS  207 

He  then  goes  on  to  show  that  the  education  of  a 
child  consists  in  teaching  him  table  manners,  the 
avoidance  of  unclean  food,  gluttony  and  impolite- 
ness. He  advises  parents  to  dress  their  children 
simply  and  not  in  costly  clothing.  To  quote  once 
more: 

"After  teaching  him  these  things  it  is  wise  to 
send  him  to  school  where  he  shall  learn  the  Koran 
and  the  pious  traditions,  and  the  tales  of  the 
righteous  and  their  lives,  in  order  that  a  love  of 
the  pious  may  be  imprinted  in  his  heart;  and  he 
should  be  kept  from  reading  erotic  poetry  and  pre- 
vented from  mixing  with  those  people  of  education 
who  think  that  this  sort  of  reading  is  profitable  and 
elevating,  because,  on  the  contrary,  it  produces  in 
the  hearts  of  children  the  seeds  of  corruption. 
Whenever  the  boy  shows  a  good  character  or  an 
act  which  is  praiseworthy,  he  must  be  honoured  for 
it  and  rewarded,  so  that  he  will  be  happy ;  and  this 
should  especially  be  done  in  the  presence  of  others. 
If,  on  the  contrary,  he  should  act  otherwise  once 
and  again,  it  is 'necessary  to  take  no  notice  of  it, 
nor  to  lay  bare  his  fault,  as  though  you  imagine  no 
one  would  dare  to  do  such  a  thing,  especially  if  the 
boy  himself  conceals  it,  and  has  determined  to 
hide  it;  for  exposing  would  only  make  him  more 
bold  in  the  future.  If  he  should  repeat  the  fault, 
he  can  be  punished  in  secret." 

Such  is  the  strange  ethical  teaching — a  mingling 
of  good  and  bad  advice — on  the  part  of  one  who 


208       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

has  always  been  considered  as  the  pillar  of  ortho- 
doxy and  one  of  the  great  authorities  on  Moslem 
morals. 

The  ethics  of  marriage  holds  a  large  place  in 
Moslem  literature,  and  also  in  the  works  of  Al- 
Ghazali.  Marriage  is  enjoined  upon  every  Moslem, 
and  celibacy  is  discouraged.  "  Marriage/'  said 
Mohammed  the  Prophet,  "  is  my  custom,  and  he 
who  dislikes  it  does  not  belorig  to  my  people." 
And  in  another  tradition:  "Marriage  is  one-half 
of  true  religion."  Even  the  members  of  the  ascetic 
orders  in  Islam  are  generally  married.  The  vow 
of  celibacy  was  therefore  not  known  among  the 
mystics.  Marriage  is  defined  by  Moslem  jurists  as 
"  a  contract  by  which  the  husband  obtains  posses- 
sion of  the  wife  and  is  allowed  to  enjoy  her,  if 
there  be  no  legal  impediment  preventing  the  same." 
"  Marriage,"  says  Al-Ghazali  himself,  "  is  a  kind 
of  slavery,  for  the  wife  becomes  the  slave  of  her 
husband  and  it  is  her  duty  to  obey  him  absolutely 
in  everything  he  requires  of  her,  except  in  what  is 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  Islam." 

In  the  selection  of  a  wife,  Al-Ghazali  advises  his 
disciples  to  look  for  the  following  qualifications: 
(1)  piety,  (2)  good  character,  (3)  beauty,  (4)  a 
moderate  dowry,  (5)  ability  to  bear  children, 
(6)  that  she  be  a  virgin,  (7)  of  a  good  family, 
(8)  that  she  be  not  of  near  relation.  The  duties  of 
the  husband  to  the  wife  and  the  duties  of  the  wife 
to  her  husband  are  given  in  detail  by  Al-Ghazali  in 


HIS  ETHICS  209 

his  Ihya  and  in  some  of  his  other  works.  The  hus- 
band, according  to  this  teaching,  ought  to  main- 
tain a  golden  mean  in  dealing  with  his  wife  in 
twelve  points,  that  is,  he  means  that  there  should 
be  no  excess  of  kindness  or  excess  of  harshness  in 
any  of  these  particulars:  (1)  the  marriage  feast; 
(2)  behaviour;  (3)  playfulness  or  caressing; 
(4)  maintaining  his  dignity;  (5)  jealousy;  (6) 
pecuniary  allowance;  (7)  teaching;  (8)  granting 
every  wife  her  rights  (in  the  Moslem  sense) ; 
(9)  chastisement;  (10)  the  rules  of  cohabitation; 
(11)  childbirth;  (12)  divorce.  In  one  place  he 
says  if  the  wife  be  disobedient  and  obstinate,  the 
husband  has  the  right  to  punish  her  and  force  her 
to  obey  him,  but  he  must  proceed  gradually,  ex- 
hort, admonish,  threaten,  abstain  from  intercourse 
with  her  for  three  days,  beat  her  so  as  to  let  her 
feel  the  pain,  but  be  careful  not  to  wound  her  in 
the  face,  make  her  blood  flow  abundantly  or  break 
a  bone!  The  teaching  of  Al-Ghazali  on  divorce 
and  slavery  is  so  thoroughly  Moslem  that  much  of 
it  is  untranslatable.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  he  agrees 
with  other  doctors  of  Moslem  law  in  excusing 
onanism  and  other  sins  under  certain  circum- 
stances, and  even  indicates  that  it  may  become  a 
duty  if  practiced  in  order  to  escape  from  greater 
sins.1 

In  spite  of  his  Islamic  conception  of  the  sexual 

1 "  Ihya,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  32-33,  "  Mizan  al  'Amal,"  pp.  126-128, 
etc. 


210       A  MOSLEM  SEEEEB  AFTEE  GOD 

relation,  Al-Ghazali  certainly  inspires  our  respect 
by. what  he  says  on  the  kindly  treatment  of  the  wife 
and  the  evil  of  divorce.  Only  one  would  like  to 
know  whether  he  himself  had  more  than  one  wife 
and  whether  she  was  a  worthy  helpmeet  to  her 
husband  and  he  to  her.  His  biographers  are 
silent. 

"A  man  should  remain  on  good  terms  with  his 
wife.  This  does  not  mean  that  he  should  never 
cause  her  pain,  but  that  he  should  bear  any  annoy- 
ance she  causes  him,  whether  by  her  unreasonable- 
ness or  ingratitude,  patiently.  Woman  is  created 
weak,  and  requiring  concealment ;  she  should  there- 
fore be  borne  with  patiently,  and  kept  secluded. 
The  Prophet  said,  '  He  who  bears  the  ill-humour 
of  his  wife  patiently  will  earn  as  much  merit  as 
Job  did  by  the  patient  endurance  of  his  trials/  On 
his  deathbed  also  he  was  heard  to  say,  '  Continue 
in  prayer  and  treat  your  wives  well,  for  they  are 
your  prisoners/ 

"  Wise  men  have  said,  '  Consult  women,  and  act 
the  contrary  to  what  they  advise/  In  truth  there 
is  something  perverse  in  women,  and  if  they  are 
allowed  even  a  little  license,  they  get  out  of  control 
altogether,  and  it  is  difficult  to  reduce  them  to  order 
again.  In  dealing  with  them  one  should  endeavour 
to  use  a  mixture  of  severity  and  tenderness,  with  a 
greater  proportion  of  the  latter.  The  Prophet  said, 
'  Woman  was  formed  of  a  crooked  rib;  if  you  try 
to  bend  her,  you  will  break  her;  if  you  leave  her 


HIS  ETHICS  211 

alone,  she  will  grow  more  and  more  crooked ;  there- 
fore treat  her  tenderly.' * 

"The  greatest  care  should  be  taken  to  avoid 
divorce,  for,  though  divorce  is  permitted,  yet  God 
disapproves  of  it,  because  the  very  utterance  of  the 
word  '  divorce  '  causes  a  woman  pain,  and  how  can 
it  be  right  to  pain  any  one  ?  When  divorce  is  abso- 
lutely necessary,  the  formula  for  it  should  not  be 
repeated  thrice  all  at  once,  but  on  three  different 
occasions.  A  woman  should  be  divorced  kindly, 
not  through  anger  and  contempt,  and  not  without  a 
reason.  After  divorce  a  man  should  give  his  for- 
mer wife  a  present,  and  not  tell  others  that  she  has 
been  divorced  for  such  and  such  a  fault.  Of  a 
certain  man  who  was  instituting  divorce  proceed- 
ings against  his  wife  it  is  related  that  people  asked 
him, '  Why  are  you  divorcing  her  ?  '  He  answered, 
*  I  do  not  reveal  my  wife's  secrets.'  When  he  had 
actually  divorced  her,  he  was  asked  again,  and  said, 
'  She  is  a  stranger  to  me  now ;  I  have  nothing  to  do 
with  her  private  affairs.' ' 

All  the  relations  of  life,  its  pleasures  and  duties 
pass  under  review  in  books  on  A  dab.  Every  de- 
tail of  outward  conduct  is  regulated  by  what  is 
said  to  have  been  the  practice  of  the  Prophet.  How 
to  eat  a  pomegranate  correctly,  how  to  take  a  bath, 
how  to  use  the  Miswak,  or  tooth-brush,  how  to 
behave  towards  Jews  and  Christians,  and  what 
ornaments  are  allowed — all  this  comes  under  the 

1 "  Alchemy  of  Happiness,"  pp.  94-96. 


212       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  APTEE  GOD 

head  of  Moslem  Ethics.  We  give  the  reader  one 
striking  example. 

In  his  work,  "  The  Alchemy  of  Happiness," 
there  is  a  chapter  concerning  "  Music  and  Dancing 
as  Aids  to  the  Religious  Life."  The  question  of 
musical  instruments  was  discussed  as  earnestly  in 
the  days  of  Al-Ghazali  as  it  has  been  more  recently 
among  Christians  who  dread  the  desecration  of 
God's  house  by  the  "  cist  of  whistles."  There  was 
much  dispute  among  theologians  as  to  the  lawful- 
ness of  music  and  dancing  as  religious  exercises. 
The  Sufis  had  already  introduced  the  practice. 
The  following  paragraphs  show  Al-Ghazali's  com- 
mon sense,  keen  humour,  and  at  the  same  time  his 
rather  doubtful  conclusion;  for  he  even  justifies 
erotic  poetry  if  sung  for  the  glory  of  God: 

"  The  heart  of  man  has  been  so  constituted  by 
the  Almighty  that,  like  a  flint,  it  contains  a  hidden 
fire  which  is  evoked  by  music  and  harmony,  and 
renders  man  beside  himself  with  ecstasy.  These 
harmonies  are  echoes  of  that  higher  world  of 
beauty  which  we  call  the  world  of  spirits;  they 
remind  man  of  his  relationship  to  that  world,  and 
produce  in  him  an  emotion  so  deep  and  strange  that 
he  himself  is  powerless  to  explain  it.  The  effect 
of  music  and  dancing  is  deeper  in  proportion  as  the 
nature  on  which  they  act  are  simple  and  prone  to 
emotion ;  they  fan  into  a  flame  whatever  love  is  al- 
ready dormant  in  the  heart,  whether  it  be  earthly 
and  sensual,  or  divine  and  spiritual.  .  .  . 


HIS  ETHICS  213 

"  Passing  over  the  cases  where  music  and  danc- 
ing rouse  into  a  flame  evil  desires  already  dormant 
in  the  heart,  we  come  to  those  cases  where  they  are 
quite  lawful.  Such  are  those  of  the  pilgrims  who 
celebrate  the  glories  of  the  House  of  God  at  Mecca 
in  song,  and  thus  incite  others  to  go  on  pilgrimage, 
and  of  minstrels  whose  music  and  songs  stir  up 
martial  ardour  in  the  breasts  of  their  auditors  and 
incite  them  to  fight  against  the  infidels.  Similarly, 
mournful  music  which  excites  sorrow  for  sin  and 
failure  in  the  religious  life  is  lawful;  of  this  nature 
was  the  music  of  David.  But  dirges  which  in- 
crease sorrow  for  the  dead  are  not  lawful,  for  it 
is  written  in  the  Koran,  '  Despair  not  over  what 
you  have  lost/  On  the  other  hand,  joyful  music 
at  weddings  and  feasts  and  on  such  occasions  as  a 
circumcision  or  the  return  from  a  journey  is  law- 
ful. .  .  . 

"  The  states  of  ecstasy  into  which  the  Sufis  fall 
vary  according  to  the  emotions  which  predominate 
in  them — love,  fear,  desire,  repentance,  etc.  These 
states,  as  we  have  mentioned  above,  are  often  the 
result  not  only  of  hearing  verses  of  the  Koran,  but 
erotic  poetry.  Some  have  objected  to  the  reciting 
of  poetry,  as  well  as  of  the  Koran,  on  these  occa- 
sions; but  it  should  be  remembered  that  all  the 
verses  of  the  Koran  are  not  adapted  to  stir  the 
emotions — such,  for  instance,  as  that  which  com- 
mands that  a  man  should  leave  his  mother  the  sixth 
part  of  his  property  and  his  sister  the  half,  or  that 


214       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

which  orders  that  a  widow  must  wait  four  months 
after  the  death  of  her  husband  before  becoming 
espoused  to  another  man.  The  natures  which  can 
be  thrown  into  religious  ecstasy  by  the  recital  of 
such  verses  are  peculiarly  sensitive  and  very  rare." 
They  certainly  are ! 

The  inconsistencies  and  contradictions  in  Al- 
Ghazali's  theory  of  conduct  surprise  us  when  we 
peruse  his  works.  Sometimes  he  leads  us  to  high 
mountain  ranges  whose  summits  are  gilded  with 
the  light  of  heaven,  the  great  truths  of  Theism,  the 
ideals  of  eternity;  and  again  he  plunges  us  into  the 
sloughs  of  sensuous  and  worldly  discussion — 
themes  unworthy  of  his  pen. 

Let  us  get  back  to  the  mountain  tops  where  the 
air  is  healthier.  Al-Ghazali,  whatever  may  have 
been  his  failure  in  other  respects,  had  high  ideals 
for  the  attainment  of  morals  from  the  Moslem 
standpoint.  In  his  "  The  Alchemy  of  Happiness  " 
he  says,  "  When  in  the  crucible  of  abstinence  the 
soul  is  purged  from  carnal  passions  it  attains  to  the 
highest,  and  in  place  of  being  a  slave  to  lust  and 
anger  becomes  endued  with  angelic  qualities.  At- 
taining that  state,  man  finds  his  heaven  in  the  con- 
templation of  Eternal  Beauty,  and  no  longer  in 
fleshly  delights.  The  spiritual  alchemy  which 
operates  this  change  in  him,  like  that  which  trans- 
mutes base  metals  into  gold,  is  not  easily  dis- 
covered, nor  to  be  found  in  the  house  of  every  old 
woman." 


HIS  ETHICS  215 

And  in  the  attainment  of  this  ideal  he  is  sure 
that  there  must  be  a  fight  for  character.  The 
goal  is  not  to  be  reached  by  easy  stages.  The  war- 
fare against  passion  is  real  and  costs  sacrifice.  He 
gives  us  a  picture  of  this  Holy  War  almost  in  the 
language  of  John  Bunyan.  "  For  the  carrying  on 
of  this  spiritual  warfare  by  which  the  knowledge 
of  oneself  and  of  God  is  to  be  obtained,  the  body 
may  be  figured  as  a  kingdom,  the  soul  as  its  king 
and  the  different  senses  and  faculties  as  constitut- 
ing an  army.  Reason  may  be  called  the  vizier,  or 
prime  minister,  passion  the  revenue-collector,  and 
anger  the  police-officer.  Under  the  guise  of  col- 
lecting revenue,  passion  is  continually  prone  to 
plunder  on  its  own  account,  while  resentment  is 
always  inclined  to  harshness  and  extreme  severity. 
Both  of  these,  the  revenue-collector  and  the  police- 
officer,  have  to  be  kept  in  due  subordination  to  the 
king,  but  not  killed  or  expelled,  as  they  have  their 
own  proper  functions  to  fulfil.  But  if  passion  and 
resentment  master  reason,  the  ruin  of  the  soul  in- 
fallibly ensues.  A  soul  which  allows  its  lower 
faculties  to  dominate  the  higher  is  as  one  who 
should  hand  over  an  angel  to  the  power  of  a  dog 
or  a  Mussalman  to  the  tyranny  of  an  unbeliever." 

The  struggle  is,  therefore,  between  the  flesh  and 
the  spirit.  Like  St.  Paul,  Al-Ghazali  must  have 
experienced  that  which  he  describes:  "The  good 
that  I  would  I  do  not,  and  the  evil  that  I  would 
not,  that  I  do."  He  is  conscious  of  the  inner; 


216       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

struggle  between  the  higher  and  the  lower  natures 
in  man.  Again  and  again  he  contrasts  the  body 
and  the  soul  as  to  their  eternal  value  in  their 
struggle  for  supremacy.  Both  are  of  God,  His 
gift  to  us;  both  show  His  wisdom  and  His  power; 
but  there  is  no  comparison  when  we  try  to  estimate 
their  real  values. 

"The  body,  so  to  speak,  is  simply  the  riding 
animal  of  the  soul,  and  perishes  while  the  soul  en- 
dures. The  soul  should  take  care  of  the  body,  just 
as  a  pilgrim  on  his  way  to  Mecca  takes  care  of  his 
camel;  but  if  the  pilgrim  spends  his  whole  time  in 
feeding  and  adorning  his  camel,  the  caravan  will 
leave  him  behind,  and  he  will  perish  in  the  desert." 

The  four  leading  virtues — the  mothers  of  all 
other  good  qualities — Al-Ghazali  says  are  "  Wis- 
dom, temperance,  bravery,  and  moderation  (or  the 
golden  mean  of  conduct) ."  This  classification  he 
has  borrowed  from  Plato  with  so  much  else  on  the 
theory  of  conduct.  He  explains  all  these  virtues 
in  terms  of  the  Koran  and  illustrates  them  from 
the  lives  of  Mohammed  and  the  early  saints  of 
Islam  as  well  as  the  later  mystics. 

He  is  at  his  best  when  he  speaks  of  vices  and 
their  opposite  virtues.  No  one  can  read  his  chap- 
ter against  pride  and  boasting  without  seeing  that 
he  gives  us  again  a  page  from  his  own  experience. 
He  begins  by  quoting  the  saying  of  the  Prophet, 
"  No  one  shall  enter  paradise  in  whose  heart  there 

1 "  Alchemy  of  Happiness."  8 "  Mizan  al  'Amal." 


HIS  ETHICS  217 

is  the  weight  of  a  grain  of  mustard  seed  of  pride/' 
And  another  saying,  "  Said  God  Most  High, 
'  Pride  is  my  mantle  and  majesty  is  my  cloak,  and 
whosoever  takes  away  one  of  them  from  me  I  will 
cast  him  into  hell,  and  I  care  not/  "  Another  say- 
ing attributed  to  Mohammed  is  evidently  taken 
from  the  Gospel,  "  Whoso  humbleth  himself  be- 
fore God,  God  will  exalt  him,  and  whosoever  is 
proud  God  will  bring  him  low/'  His  definition  of 
humility  is  beautiful:  "  True  humility  is  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  truth  and  to  be  corrected  by  it  even 
though  thou  shouldst  hear  it  from  a  mere  boy  on 
the  street."  In  this  connection  he  quotes  also  a 
saying  of  Jesus:  "Said  the  Messiah  (upon  Him 
be  peace),  '  Blessed  is  he  to  whom  God  has  taught 
His  book.  He  shall  never  die  in  his  pride/  " 

Pride  is  shown  in  different  ways.  Al-Ghazali 
enumerates  pride  of  knowledge,  of  worship,  of 
race  and  blood,  of  beauty  and  dress,  of  wealth,  of 
bodily  strength,  of  leadership.  He  quotes  Mo- 
hammed as  an  example  of  humility,  and  also  Abi 
Saeed  el  Khudri,  who  said,  "  Oh,  my  son,  eat  unto 
God  and  drink  unto  God  and  dress  unto  God.  But 
whatsoever  thou  doest  of  all  of  these  and  there 
enters  into  them  pride  or  hypocrisy  it  is  disobedi- 
ence. Whatever  you  do  in  your  house  do  it  your- 
self as  did  the  Apostle  of  God,  for  he  used  to  milk 
the  goats  and  patch  his  sandals  and  sew  his  cloak 
and  eat  with  the  servants  and  buy  in  the  bazaar, 
nor  did  his  pride  forbid  him  carrying  his  own  pack- 


218       A  MOSLEM  8EEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

ages  home ;  and  he  was  friendly  to  the  rich  and  to 
the  poor  and  he  gave  greetings  himself  first  to  every 
one  whom  he  met,  etc/' 

It  is  noteworthy  that  when  he  rises  to  the  highest 
ethical  teaching  he  bases  his  remarks  on  the  sayings 
(mostly  apocryphal)  of  Christ,  which  we  collate 
in  our  final  chapter.  Al-Ghazali  tried  hard  but 
failed  to  find  in  Mohammed  the  ideals  of  his  own 
heart.  This  is  the  tragedy  of  Islam. 


VIII 

Al-Ghazali  as  a  Mystic 


"  Mysticism  is  religion,  and  supplies  a  refuge  for 
men  of  religious  minds  who  find  it  no  longer  possible 
for  them  to  rest  on  '  external  authority ' — as  George 
Tyrrell  both  expounded  and  illustrated  for  us.  Once 
turn  away  from  revelation  and  little  choice  remains 
to  you  but  the  choice  between  Mysticism  and  Ration- 
alism. There  is  not  so  much  choice  between  these 
things,  it  is  true,  as  enthusiasts  on  either  side  are  apt 
to  imagine.  The  difference  between  them  is  very 
much  a  matter  of  temperament,  or  perhaps  we  may 
even  say  of  temperature.  The  Mystic  blows  hot,  the 
Rationalist  cold.  Warm  up  a  Rationalist  and  you 
inevitably  get  a  Mystic ;  chill  down  a  Mystic  and  you 
find  yourself  with  a  Rationalist  on  your  hands.  The 
history  of  thought  illustrates  repeatedly  the  easy  pas- 
sage from  one  to  the  other.  Each  centers  himself  in 
himself,  and  the  human  self  is  not  so  big  that  it  makes 
any  large  difference  where  within  yourself  you  take 
your  center.  Nevertheless  just  because  Mysticism 
blows  hot,  its  'eccentricity'  is  the  more  attractive 
to  men  of  lively  religious  feeling." 

— Benjamin  B.  War  field,  in  the  "Princeton 
Theological  Review." 


VIII 
AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC 

ONE  of  the  earliest  mystics  in  Islam  was 
Rabia',   who   was  buried   in  Jerusalem. 
She  was  a  native  of  Busrah  and  died  at 
Jerusalem  as  early  as  the  second  century  of  Islam. 
Her  tomb,  according  to  Ibn  Khallikan,  was  an  ob- 
ject of  pilgrimage  in  the  Middle  Ages,  and  was 
probably  visited  by  Al-Ghazali.     The   following 
verses  are  quoted  from  her  in  the  Ihya  (vol.  iv. 
p.  298) : 

"  Two  ways  I  love  Thee :  selfishly, 
And  next,  as  worthy  is  of  Thee. 
'Tis  selfish  love  that  I  do  naught 
Save  think  on  Thee  with  every  thought : 
'Tis  purest  love  when  Thou  dost  raise 
The  veil  to  my  adoring  gaze. 
Not  mine  the  praise  in  that  or  this, 
Thine  is  the  praise  in  both,  I  wis." 

The  Moslem  mystics,  or  Sufis,  however,  received 
their  name  through  Abu  Khair,  who  lived  at  the 
end  of  the  second  century  of  the  Hegira.  His 
disciples  wore  a  woolen  garment,  and  from  the 

221 


222       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  APTEE  GOD 

word  suf,  which  means  wool,  they  obtained  their 
name.  In  the  next  century,  al-Junaid  (A.  H.  297), 
one  of  Al-Ghazali's  favourite  authorities,  was  the 
great  leader  of  the  movement,  which  spread 
throughout  Islam.  It  was  a  reaction  from  the 
barren  monotheism  and  the  rigid  ritualism  of 
Islam.  This  kind  of  orthodoxy  did  not  meet  the 
needs  of  the  more  imaginative  mind  of  the  Eastern 
races  who  accepted  Islam.  The  preachers  of  the 
new  doctrine  travelled  everywhere  and  mixed  with 
men  of  all  conditions.  In  this  way  they  adopted 
ideas  from  many  sources,  although  always  pro- 
fessing to  base  their  teaching  on  the  Koran  and 
Tradition. 

According  to  Nicholson,  the  Mystics  of  Islam  bor- 
rowed not  only  from  Christianity  and  Neoplato- 
nism,  but  from  Gnosticism  and  Buddhism.  Many 
Gospel  texts  and  sayings  of  Jesus,  most  of  them 
apocryphal,  are  cited  in  the  oldest  Sufi  writings. 
From  Christianity  they  took  the  use  of  the  woollen 
dress,  the  vows  of  silence,  the  litanies  (Zikr),  and 
other  ascetic  practices.  Their  teaching  also  has 
many  interesting  parallels  which  Nicholson  sum- 
marizes as  follows:  "The  same  expressions  are 
applied  to  the  founder  of  Islam  which  are  used  by 
St.  John,  St.  Paul,  and  later  mystical  theologians 
concerning  Christ.  Thus,  Mohammed  is  called  the 
Light  of  God,  he  is  said  to  have  existed  before  the 
creation  of  the  world,  he  is  adored  as  the  source  of 
all  life,  actual  and  possible,  he  is  the  Perfect  Man 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  223 

in  whom  all  the  divine  attributes  are  manifested, 
and  a  Sufi  tradition  ascribes  to  him  the  saying, 
'  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  Allah/  In  the 
Moslem  scheme,  however,  the  Logos  doctrine  oc- 
cupies a  subordinate  place,  as  it  obviously  must 
when  the  whole  duty  of  man  is  believed  to  consist 
in  realizing  the  unity  of  God." 

Neoplatonism  gave  them  the  doctrine  of  emana- 
tion and  ecstasy.  The  following  version  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  seventy  thousand  veils,  as  ex- 
pounded to  Canon  Gairdner  by  a  modern  dervish, 
shows  clear  traces  of  Gnosticism.  "  Seventy 
Thousand  Veils  separate  Allah,  the  One  reality, 
from  the  world  of  matter  and  of  sense.  And  every 
soul  passes  before  his  birth  through  these  seventy 
thousand.  The  inner  half  of  these  are  veils  of 
light:  the  outer  half,  veils  of  darkness.  For  every 
one  of  the  veils  of  light  passed  through,  in  this 
journey  towards  birth,  the  soul  puts  off  a  divine 
quality;  and  for  every  one  of  the  dark  veils,  it 
puts  on  an  earthly  quality.  ^Thus  the  child  is 
born  weeping,  for  the  soul  knows  its  separation 
from  Allah,  the  one  Reality.  And  when  the  child 
cries  in  its  sleep,  it  is  because  the  soul  remembers 
something  of  what  it  has  lost.  Otherwise,  the 
passage  through  the  veils  has  brought  with  it  for- 
getfulness  (nisyan):  and  for  this  reason  man  is 
called  insan?  He  is  now,  as  it  were,  in  prison  in 
his  body,  separated  by  these  thick  curtains  from 
'"The  Mystics  of  Islam." 


224       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Allah.  But  the  whole  purpose  of  Sufism,  the 
Way  of  the  dervish,  is  to  give  him  an  escape  from 
this  prison,  an  apocalypse  of  the  Seventy  Thou- 
sand Veils,  a  recovery  of  the  original  unity  with 
The  One,  while  still  in  this  body."  * 

In  regard  to  Buddhist  influence,  Professor 
Goldziher  has  called  attention  to  the  fact  that  in 
the  eleventh  century  the  teaching  of  Buddha  ex- 
erted considerable  influence  in  eastern  Persia, 
especially  at  Balkh,  a  city  famous  for  the  number 
of  Sufis  who  dwelt  in  it.  From  the  Buddhists 
came  the  use  of  the  rosary  (afterwards  adopted  by 
Christians  in  Europe),  and  perhaps  also  the  doc- 
trine of  fana  or  absorption  into  God. 

"  While  fana/'  says  Nicholson,  "  in  its  panthe- 
istic form  is  radically  different  from  Nirvana,  the 
terms  coincide  so  closely  in  other  ways  that  we 
cannot  regard  them  as  being  altogether  uncon- 
nected. Fana  has  an  ethical  aspect:  it  involves  the 
extinction  of  all  passions  and  desires.  The  pass- 
ing away  of  evil  qualities  and  of  the  evil  actions 
which  they  produce  is  said  to  be  brought  about  by 
the  continuance  of  the  corresponding  good  quali- 
ties and  actions/'2  The  cultivation  of  character 
by  the  contemplation  of  God  in  a  mystical  sense 
was  the  real  goal.  To  know  God  was  to  be  like 
Him  and  to  be  like  Him  ended  in  absorption  or 

"'The  Way  of  a  Mystic,"  The  Moslem  World.  Vol.  II, 
p.  171. 

•"Mystics  of  Islam,"  p.  i& 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  225 

ecstasy.1  One  of  their  favourite  sayings  was  that 
attributed  to  God  by  the  Prophet,  "  I  was  a  hidden 
treasure  and  I  desired  to  be  known,  so  I  created  the 
creation  in  order  that  I  might  be  known/'  Just 
as  the  universe  is  the  mirror  of  God's  being,  so  the 
heart  of  man  is  to  the  Sufi  the  mirror  of  the  uni- 
verse. If  he  would  know  God  or  Truth  he  must 
look  into  his  own  heart. 

To  quote  Al-Ghazali  himself:  "The  aim  which 
the  Sufis  set  before  them  is  as  follows:  To  free  the 
soul  from  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  the  passions,  to 
deliver  it  from  its  wrong  inclinations  and  evil  in- 
stincts, in  order  that  in  the  purified  heart  there 
should  only  remain  room  for  God  and  for  the  in- 
vocation of  His  holy  name. 

"As  it  was  more  easy  to  learn  their  doctrine  than 
to  practise  it,  I  studied  first  of  all  those  of  their 
books  which  contain  it:  The  Nourishment  of 
Hearts,  by  Abu  Talib  of  Mecca,  the  works  of 
Hareth  el  Muhasibi,  and  the  fragments  which  still 
remain,  of  Junaid,  Shibli,  Abu  Yezid,  Bustami  and 
other  leaders  (whose  souls  may  God  sanctify).  I 
acquired  a  thorough  knowledge  of  their  researches, 
and  I  learned  all  that  was  possible  to  learn  of  their 
methods  by  study  and  oral  teaching.  It  became 
clear  that  the  last  stage  could  not  be  reached  by 

*Yet  strange  to  say  there  was  often  an  utter  divorce  be- 
tween these  high  ideals  and  practical  morality.  A  surprising 
statement  is  made  by  Al-Ghazali  regarding  Junaid  in  this 
connection.  "  Ihya,"  Vol.  II,  p.  19. 


226       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

mere  instruction,  but  only  by  transport,  ecstasy, 
and  the  transformation  of  the  moral  being  "  (p.  41, 
"Confessions"). 

"Among  the  teachings  of  the  Sufis  was  that  of 
the  preexistence  of  Mohammed  the  Prophet  in  the 
Essence  of  Light.  According  to  the  Traditions, 
'  I  was  a  prophet  while  Adam  was  yet  between 
earth  and  clay/  and  'There  is  no  prophet  after 
me/  Sufis  hold  that  Mohammed  was  a  prophet  even 
before  the  creation  and  that  he  still,  holds  office. 
This  identification  of  Mohammed  with  the  Primal 
Element  explains  the  names  sometimes  given  him, 
such  as  Universal  Reason,  the  Great  Spirit,  the 
Truth  of  Humanity,  the  Possessor  of  the  Ray  of 
Light — the  Nur-i-Muhammadi — from  God's  own 
splendour."  * 

Absorption  in  God,  therefore,  or  union  with 
Him  is  the  goal  of  all  the  Sufi  teachings  and  prac- 
tices. The  entire  negation  of  self  clears  the  way 
for  the  apprehension  of  the  Truth.  This  journey 
towards  God  has  its  stages  which  are  generally 
given  as  eight  in  number:  service,  love,  abstraction, 
knowledge,  ecstasy,  truth,  union,  extinction.  Some 
of  the  Sufis  went  so  far  as  to  set  aside  external 
religion,  and  showed  an  utter  indifference  to  the 
ritual  as  well  as  to  the  moral  law.  Al-Ghazali  was 
not  of  their  number.  He  teaches,  however,  that 
the  ordinary  theologian  cannot  enter  on  the  mystic 
path,  for  he  is  still  in  bondage  to  dogma  and  wan- 
1 "  Essays  on  Islam,"  by  Rev.  E.  Sell,  Madras,  1901,  p.  13. 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  227 

ders  about  in  darkness.  Prayer,  fasting,  pilgrim- 
age in  all  their  requirements  and  the  details  of  their 
observations  have,  therefore,  a  twofold  signifi- 
cance ;  the  outward  and  formal  one  which  is  under- 
stood by  the  common  people,  and  the  spiritual,  real, 
esoteric  significance  which  is  only  grasped  by  those 
who  give  themselves  entirely  to  God. 

Al-Ghazali  was  thoroughly  aware  of  the  dangers 
of  Sufism  both  in  its  creed  by  way  of  becoming 
pantheistic,  and  in  its  antinomian  practices.  He 
saw  that  divorce  between  religion  and  morals  would 
be  disastrous  and  must  therefore  have  been  shocked 
by  such  verses  as  those  of  Omar  Khayyam: 

"  Khayyam !  why  weep  you  that  your  life  is  bad ; 
What  boots  it  thus  to  mourn  ?    Rather  be  glad. 
He  that  sins  not  can  make  no  claim  to  mercy ; 
Mercy  was  made  for  sinners — be  not  sad." 

His  teaching  regarding  sin  and  repentance  was,  as 
we  shall  see  later,  altogether  more  fundamental.  . 

From  the  earliest  times  pantheistic  Sufism  found 
a  home  in  Khorasan  among  the  Moslems.  The  old 
idea  of  incarnation  emerged  when  the  Shiah  sect 
separated  itself  and  paid  such  high  veneration  to 
Ali.  The  sect  of  the  Khattahiyah  worshipped  the 
Imam  Jafar  Sadik  as  God.  Others  believed  that 
the  divine  spirit  had  descended  upon  Abdallah  Ibn 
Amr.  In  Khorasan  the  opinion  was  widely  spread 
that  Abu  Muslim,  the  great  general  who  overturned 
the  dynasty  of  the  Ommeyads  and  set  up  that  of 
the  Abbassides,  was  an  incarnation  of  the  spirit  of 


228       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  APTEE  GOD 

God.  In  the  same  province  under  Al  Mansur,  the 
second  Abbasside  Caliph,  a  religious  leader  named 
Ostasys  professed  to  be  an  emanation  of  the  God- 
head. He  collected  thousands  of  followers,  and 
the  movement  was  not  suppressed  without  much 
fighting.  Under  the  Caliph  Mahdi  a  self-styled 
Avatar  named  Ata  arose,  who  on  account  of  a 
golden  mask  which  he  continually  wore  was  called 
Mokanna,  or  "  the  veiled  prophet."  He  also  had 
a  numerous  following,  and  held  the  Caliph's  armies 
in  check  for  several  years,  till  in  A.  D.  779,  being 
closely  invested  in  his  castle,  he,  with  his  whole 
harem  and  servants,  put  an  end  to  themselves. 

What  Al-Ghazali  himself  thought  of  these  specu- 
lations of  the  Sufis  and  the  danger  of  this  kind  of 
mysticism  we  learn  from  his  book:  "  The  specula- 
tions of  the  Sufis  may  be  divided  into  two  classes: 
to  the  first  category  belong  all  the  phases  about 
love  to  God  and  union  with  Him,  which  according 
to  them  compensate  for  all  outward  works.  Many 
of  them  allege  that  they  have  attained  to  com- 
plete oneness  with  God;  that  for  them  the  veil  has 
been  lifted ;  that  they  have  not  only  seen  the  Most 
High  with  their  eyes,  but  have  spoken  with  Him, 
and  so  far  as  to  say  '  The  Most  High  spoke  thus 
and  thus/  They  wish  to  imitate  Hallaj,  who  was 
crucified  for  using  such  expressions,  and  justify 
themselves  by  quoting  his  saying,  '  I  am  the  Truth/ 
They  also  refer  to  Abu  Yazid  Bistami,  who  is  re- 
ported to  have  exclaimed,  '  Praise  be  to  me ! '  in- 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  229 

stead  of  '  Praise  be  to  God ! '  This  kind  of  specu- 
lation is  extremely  dangerous  for  the  common 
people,  and  it  is  notorious  that  a  number  of  crafts- 
men have  left  their  occupation  to  make  similar 
assertions.  Such  speeches  are  highly  popular,  as 
they  hold  out  to  men  the  prospect  of  laying  aside 
active  work  with  the  idea  of  purging  the  soul 
through  mystical  ecstasies  and  transports.  The 
common  people  are  not  slow  to  claim  similar  rights 
for  themselves  and  to  catch  up  wild  and  whirling 
expressions.  As  regards  the  second  class  of  Sufi 
speculation,  it  consists  in  the  use  of  unintelligible 
phrases  which  by  their  outward  apparent  meaning 
and  boldness  attract  attention,  but  which  on  closer 
inspection  prove  to  be  devoid  of  any  real  sense." 

Not  only  did  Al-Ghazali  realize  the  danger  on 
the  side  of  pantheism,  but  he  was  aware  that  such 
religious  enthusiasm  often  led  to  gross  hypocrisy. 
In  his  Ihya  he  mentions  "  that  the  prophet  com- 
manded that  whoever  did  not  feel  moved  to  tears 
at  the  recitation  of  the  Koran  should  pretend  to 
weep  and  to  be  deeply  moved " ;  for,  adds  Al- 
Ghazali  sagely,  "  in  these  matters  one  begins  by 
forcing  oneself  to  do  what  afterwards  comes 
spontaneously/'  Moreover,  the  fact  that  religious 
excitement  was  looked  upon  as  the  mark  of  a 
fervent  mind  and  devout  intensity,  vastly  increased 
the  number  of  those  who  claimed  mystic  illumina- 
tion. He  divides  the  ecstatic  conditions  which  the 
hearing  of  poetical  recitations  produces  into  four 


230       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

classes.  The  first,  which  is  the  lowest,  is  that  of 
the  simple  sensuous  delight  in  melody.  The  sec- 
ond class  is  that  of  pleasure  in  the  melody  and  of 
understanding  the  words  in  their  apparent  sense. 
The  third  class  consists  of  those  who  apply  the 
meaning  of  the  words  to  the  relations  between  man 
and  God.  To  this  class  belongs  the  would-be  initi- 
ate into  Sufism.  He  goes  on  to  say,  "  He  has 
necessarily  a  goal  marked  out  for  him  to  aim  at, 
and  this  goal  is  the  knowledge  of  God,  meeting 
Him  and  union  with  Him  by  the  way  of  secret 
contemplation,  and  the  removal  of  the  veil  which 
conceals  Him.  In  order  to  compass  this  aim  the 
Sufi  has  a  special  path  to  follow;  he  must  perform 
various  ascetic  practices  and  overcome  certain  spiri- 
tual obstacles  in  doing  so.  Now  when,  during  the 
recitation  of  poetry,  the  Sufi  hears  mention  made 
of  blame  or  praise,  of  acceptance  or  refusal,  of 
union  with  the  Beloved  or  separation  from  Him, 
of  lament  over  a  departed  joy  or  longing  for  a 
look,  as  often  occurs  in  Arabic  poetry,  one  or  the 
other  of  these  accords  with  his  spiritual  state  and 
acts  upon  him  like  a  spark  on  tinder,  to  set  his 
heart  aflame.  Longing  and  love  overpower  him 
and  unfold  to  him  manifold  vistas  of  spiritual  ex- 
perience." 

"The  fourth  and  highest  class  is  that  of  the 
fully  initiated  who  have  passed  through  the  stages 
above  mentioned,  and  whose  minds  are  closed  to 
everything  except  God.  Such  an  one  is  wholly 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  231 

denuded  of  self,  so  that  he  no  longer  knows  his 
own  experiences  and  practices,  and,  as  though  with 
senses  sealed,  sinks  into  the  ocean  of  the  contempla- 
tion of  God.  This  condition  the  Sufis  characterize 
as  self-annihilation  (Fana)"  ("The  Confes- 
sions.") 

Elsewhere  he  compares  this  highest  condition  of 
ecstasy  of  the  human  soul  to  a  clear  mirror— of 
course  he  means  the  mirror  of  the  ancients  made 
of  polished  brass  or  bronze — which  reflects  the 
colours  of  anything  towards  which  it  is  directed. 
Again  and  again  he  comes  back  to  this  metaphor 
in  his  books.  Sin  is  like  rust  on  the  mirror  of  the 
soul.  Light  is  reflected  in  it,  but  the  rays  are  no 
longer  clear,  until  by  repentance  the  rust  of  guilt 
and  passion  are  removed. 

Al-Ghazali's  mysticism  was  always  accompanied 
by  orthodox  insistence  on  the  six  articles  of  faith 
and  the  five  pillars  of  practice,  through  which  alone 
the  soul  can  receive  its  fundamental  impulse  to- 
wards God. 

Yet  Al-Ghazali's  mysticism  leads  him  to  empha- 
size always  the  spiritual  side  of  worship.  The 
mere  form  is  nothing  in  itself.  The  author  of  the 
Masnavi  had  mastered  Al-Ghazali  and  absorbed  his 
spirit  when  he  wrote: 

"  Fools  laud  and  magnify  the  mosque, 
While  they  strive  to  oppress  holy  men  of  heart. 
But  the  former  is  mere  form,  the  latter  spirit  and 
truth. 


232       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

The  only  true  mosque  is  that  in  the  hearts  of  saints. 
The  mosque  that  is  built  in  the  heart  of  the  saints 
Is  the  place  of  worship  of  all,  for1  God  dwells  there." 

What  he  says  on  the  imitation  of  God  is  based  al- 
most literally  on  Al-Ghazali's  book  describing 
God's  attributes. 

"  God  calls  Himself  '  Seeing/  to  the  end  that 
His  eye  may  every  moment  scare  you  from  sinning. 
God  calls  Himself  '  Hearing/  to  the  end  that 
You  may  close  your  lips  against  foul  discourse. 
God  calls  Himself  '  Knowing/  to  the  end  that 
You  may  be  afraid  to  plot  evil. 
These  names  are  not  mere  accidental  names  of  God, 
As  a  negro  may  be  called  Kafur  (white)  ; 
They   are  names   derived   from   God's   essential 

attributes, 
Not  mere  vain  titles  of  the  First  Cause." 

Abu  Sa'id  bin  Abu-1-Khair,  also  of  Khorasan 
(A.  H.  396-440),  was  one  of  Al-Ghazali's  teachers 
in  the  school  of  mysticism.  When  he  was  asked 
what  a  Sufi  was  he  said:  "  Whatever  is  in  thy  head, 
forget  it;  whatever  is  in  thy  hand,  give  it  away; 
and  whatever  happens  to  thee,  disregard  it." 

In  regard  to  the  rise  of  Sufic  teaching,  its  origin 
and  character,  Dr.  C.  Snouck  Hurgronje  re- 
marks: "The  lamp  which  Allah  had  caused  Mo- 
hammed to  hold  up  to  guide  mankind  with  its  light, 
was  raised  higher  and  higher  after  the  Prophet's 


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Facsimile   title   page   of   the   last   book   Ghazali  wrote,    entitled 

"Minhaj-Al-Abidin."    On  the  margin  this  Cairo  edition  gives 

another  of  his  celebrated  works,  "Badayat-al-Hadaya." 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  233 

I 

death,  in  order  to  shed  its  light  over  an  ever  in- 
creasing part  of  humanity.  This  was  not  possible, 
however,  without  its  reservoir  being  replenished 
with  all  the  different  kinds  of  oil  that  had  from 
time  immemorial  given  light  to  those  different 
nations.  The  oil  of  mysticism  came  from  Chris- 
tian circles,  and  its  Neoplatonic  origin  was  quite 
unmistakable ;  Persia  and  India  also  contributed  to 
it.  There  were  those  who,  by  asceticism,  J}y  dif- 
ferent methods  of  mortifying  the  flesh,  liberated 
the  spirit  that  it  might  rise  and  become  united  with 
the  origin  of  all  being;  to  such  an  extent  that  with 
some  the  profession  of  faith  was  reduced  to  the 
blasphemous  exclamation:  'I  am  Allah/' 

But  he  goes  on  to  say  that  although  many  went 
to  such  extremes  and  in  their  pantheistic  ideas  lost 
sight  of  the  moral  law  and  the  restriction  of  con- 
duct it  was  Al-Ghazali  who  rescued  Islam  to  a 
large  degree  from  this  danger.  He  recommended 
moral  perfection  of  the  soul  by  asceticism  as  the 
only  way  through  which  men  could  approach  nearer 
to  God.  "  His  mysticism  wished  to  avoid  the 
danger  of  pantheism,  to  which  so  many  others  were 
led  by  their  contemplations,  and  which  so  often 
engendered  disregard  of  the  revealed  law,  or  even 
of  morality." 

It  is  therefore  from  the  days  of  Al-Ghazali  that 
ethical  mysticism  obtained  its  birthright  in  the 
world  of  Islam  together  with  law  and  dogma. 
These  now  form  the  sacred  trio  of  religious 


234       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

sciences,  and  are  taught  in  every  great  centre  of 
Moslem  learning.  For  dogma  other  writers  are 
more  authoritative.  For  Moslem  law  there  is  the 
study  of  the  great  writers  of  the  four  Schools,  but 
in  matters  of  ethics  Al-Ghazali  still  holds  his  own. 

To  quote  once  more  from  Hurgronje:  "The 
ethical  mysticism  of  Al-Ghazali  is  generally  recog- 
nized as  orthodox;  and  the  possibility  of  attaining 
to  a  higher  spiritual  sphere  by  means  of  methodic 
asceticism  and  contemplation  is  doubted  by  few. 
The  following  opinion  has  come  to  prevail  in  wide 
circles:  the  Law  offers  the  bread  of  life  to  all  the 
faithful,  the  dogmatics  are  the  arsenal  from  which 
the  weapons  must  be  taken  to  defend  the  treasures 
of  religion  against  unbelief  and  heresy,  but  mysti- 
cism shows  the  earthly  pilgrim  the  way  to 
Heaven." a 

In  one  particular,  however,  this  ethical  teaching 
is  utterly  disappointing.  Al-Ghazali's  mysticism  is 
not  for  the  multitude.  It  is  esoteric,  for  a  par- 
ticular class  who  are  filled  with  religious  pride  that 
they,  in  this  respect,  are  not  as  other  men.  Even 
the  noblest  minds  in  Islam  restrict  true  religious 
life  to  an  aristocratic  minority,  and,  like  the  Phari- 
sees of  old,  consider  the  ignorance  of  the  multi- 
tude an  evil  that  cannot  be  remedied.  The  teach- 
ing of  Al-Ghazali  was  intended  not  for  the  masses 
but  for  the  initiates. 

"  Mohammedanism,"  C.  Snouck  Hurgronje,  New  York 
and  London,  1916. 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  235 

It  is  remarkable  that  while  he  founded  a  cloister 
for  Sufis  at  Tus  and  taught  and  governed  there 
himself  during  the  closing  years  of  his  life,  he  left 
no  established  order  behind  him.  Professor  Mac- 
donald  thinks  that  in  his  time  the  movement  to- 
wards continuous  corporations  and  brotherhoods 
had  not  yet  begun.  But  this  is  a  mistake,  for  in 
the  Kashf-al-Mahjub  (A.  H.  456)  we  already  find 
a  list  of  the  various  schools  of  Dervishes  and  their 
peculiar  methods  of  devotion.  Al-Ghazali's  teach- 
ing, however,  is  popular  among  all  the  Dervish 
orders  of  to-day. 

A  special  study  has  been  made  of  one  of  Al- 
Ghazali's  esoteric  works  on  mysticism  entitled 
Mishkat  al-Anwar,  by  Canon  W.  H.  T.  Gairdner, 
in  which  he  answers  the  critics  of  this  work,  and 
shows  conclusively  that  whatever  may  have  been 
Al-Ghazali's  method  he  was  sincere.  We  borrow 
from  this  interesting  and  scholarly  paper  two 
paragraphs  to  illustrate  the  method  of  Al-Gha- 
zali: 

"  In  expounding  the  tradition  of  the  Seventy 
Thousand  Veils  with  which  Allah  had  veiled  Him- 
self from  the  vision  of  man,  Ghazali  finds  oppor- 
tunity to  graduate  various  religions  and  sects  ac- 
cording as  they  are  more,  or  less,  thickly  veiled 
from  the  light ;  i.  e.,  according  as  they  more  or  less 
nearly  approximate  to  Absolute  Truth  (al-Haqq — 
the  Real — Allah).  The  veils  which  veil  the  vari- 
ous religions  and  sects  from  the  Divine  Light  are 


236       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

conceived  of  as  twofold  in  character,  light  veils  and 
dark  veils,  and  the  principle  of  graduation  is  ac- 
cording as  the  followers  of  these  religions  and 
sects  are  veiled  (a)  by  dark  veils,  (b)  by  dark  and 
light  mixed,  or  (c)  by  light  veils  only.  The  recital 
closes  with  a  short  passage  which  tells  us  that 
the  Attainers  (al-wasilun)  have  had  the  Sufi  doc- 
trine of  kashf  in  its  most  explicit  and  striking 
form. 

"  (a)  Those  veiled  by  pure  darkness,  called  here 
the  mulhida,  are  those  who  deny  the  existence  of 
Allah  and  of  a  Last  Day.  They  have  two  main 
divisions,  those  who  have  inquired  for  a  cause  to 
account  for  the  world  and  have  made  Nature  that 
cause ;  and  those  who  have  made  no  such  inquiry. 
The  former  are  clearly  the  Naturists  or  dahriya 
who  were  the  very  abomination  of  desolation  to 
Ghazali.  It  is  curious  that  nothing  further  is  said 
of  their  evil  conduct,  and  it  is  entirely  characteristic 
of  mediaeval  thought  that  the  deepest  damnation  is 
thus  reserved  for  false  opinion,  rather  than  for 
evil  life.  Evil  doers  form  the  second  division 
(which,  however,  is  not  definitely  said  to  be 
higher  than  the  first),  composed  of  those  who  are 
too  greedy  and  selfish  so  much  as  to  look  for  a 
cause,  or  in  fact  to  think  of  anything  except  their 
vile  selves.  These  we  might  style  the  Egotists; 
they  are  ranged  in  ascending  order  into  (1)  seekers 
of  sensual  pleasure,  (2)  seekers  of  dominion, 
(3)  money-grubbers,  (4)  lovers  of  vain-glory. 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  237 

In  the  first  he  has  the  ordinary  sensual  herd  in 
view,  as  well  as  the  philosophers  of  sensualism; 
their  veils  are  the  veils  of  the  bestial  attributes, 
while  those  of  the  second  are  the  ferocious  ones 
(saba'iya).  The  denotation  of  the  latter  class  is 
quaintly  given  as  Arabs,  some  Kurds  and  very 
numerous  Fools.  The  third  and  fourth  subdivi- 
sions do  not  call  for  comment. 

"  Mounting  from  these  regions  of  unmitigated 
darkness  we  come  to  (&),  those  veiled  by  light 
and  darkness  mixed.  Ghazali's  idea  of  the  dark 
veils  in  general  may  be  gathered  from  a  com- 
parison of  this  and  the  previous  section.  In  this 
section  the  dark  veils  are  shown  to  be  the  false 
conceptions  of  deity,  which  the  human  mind  is 
deluded  into  making  by  the  gross  and  limited  ele- 
ments in  its  own  constitution,  namely  (in  ascend- 
ing order)  by  the  Senses,  the  Phantasy  or  Imagina- 
tion and  the  Discursive  Reason.  The  dark  veils 
of  the  previous  section  were  the  unmitigated  ego- 
tism and  materialism  which  employed  these  facul- 
ties for  self  and  the  world  alone,  without  a  thought 
of  deity.  The  light  veils,  accordingly,  are  the  true 
but  partial  intuitions  whereby  man  rises  to  the  idea 
of  deity,  or  to  a  something  at  least  higher  than 
himself.  These  intuitions  are  no  more  than  partial, 
because  they  fix  upon  some  one  aspect  or  attribute 
of  deity, — majesty,  beauty,  and  so  forth, — and  be- 
lieving it  to  be  all  in  all  proceed  to  deify  all  ma- 
jestic, beautiful,  etc.,  things.  Thus  they  half  re- 


238       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

veal,  half  conceal,  Allah,  and  so  are  literally  veils 
of  light."  1 

Does  not  this  remind  us  of  St.  Paul's  words: 
"  Now  we  see  through  (in)  a  glass  darkly  but  then 
face  to  face,  etc."  ?  Did  Al-Ghazali  borrow  from 
the  Gospel  here  also  ? 

It  has  been  pointed  out  by  Margoliouth  and 
others  that  Mohammedan  Sufism  is  largely  based 
on  Christian  teaching.  This  is  especially  true  in 
the  case  of  Abu  Talib,  Al-Ghazali's  favourite 
writer  on  this  subject.  "  Sometimes  the  matter 
is  taken  over  bodily ;  thus  the  Parable  of  the  Sower 
is  told  by  the  earliest  Sufi  writer.  Abu  Talib  takes 
over  the  dialogue  in  the  Gospel  eschatology  be- 
tween the  Saviour  and  those  who  are  taunted  with 
having  seen  Him  hungry  and  refused  Him  food; 
only  for  the  questioner  he  substitutes  Allah,  and 
for  '  the  least  of  these  '  his  Moslem  brother.  Not 
a  few  of  the  Beatitudes  are  taken  over  sometimes 
with  the  name  of  their  author.  Commonplaces 
which  are  found  in  Christian  homiletic  works  re- 
appear with  little  or  no  alteration  in  the  Sufi  ser- 
mons. In  the  Acts  of  Thomas,  the  Apostle,  when 
employed  by  a  king  to  build  a  palace,  spends  the 
money  in  charity  to  the  poor.  Presently  the  king's 
brother  dies,  and  finds  that  a  wonderful  palace  has 
been  built  for  the  king  in  Paradise  with  the  Alms 

*"Der  Islam,"  Band  V,  Heft  2/3  article,  "Al-Ghazali's 
Mishkat  Al-Anwar  and  the  Ghazali  Problem,"  by  Canon 
W.  H.  T.  Gairdner. 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  239 

which  Thomas  bestowed  in  his  name.  This  story 
reappears  in  the  doctrine  of  Abu  Talib  that  when 
a  poor  man  takes  charity  from  the  wealthy,  he  is 
thereby  building  him  a  house  in  Paradise." 

Not  only  in  Qut-ul-Qulub,  the  famous  book  of 
Abu  Talib,  but  in  all  Al-Ghazali's  works  we  have 
numerous  quotations  and  references  to  the  Gospels 
apocryphal  or  genuine,  as  we  shall  see  later. 

Al-Ghazali  prescribed  forms  for  morning  and 
evening  prayer  which  do  not  differ  greatly  from  the 
prayers  recommended  in  Christian  manuals  of  de- 
votion. His  teaching  on  prayer  is  an  effort  to 
spiritualize  the  ceremony,  and  in  this  he  follows  the 
teaching  of  the  older  Sufis.  Absorption  in  God 
during  prayer  was  their  ideal.  To  avoid  distrac- 
tion men  were  advised  to  pray  towards  a  blank 
wall,  lest  any  architectural  ornament  might  dis- 
tract their  attention.  Others  boasted  that  they 
could  attain  to  absorption  under  any  circumstances. 
"  There  were  saints  who  when  they  started  their 
salat  told  their  women- folk  that  they  might  chatter 
as  much  as  they  liked  and  even  beat  drums ;  they 
were  too  much  absorbed  in  prayer  to  hear,  how- 
ever loud  the  noise.  When  one  of  them  was  say- 
ing his  salat  in  the  Mosque  of  Basrah  a  column 
fell,  bringing  down  with  it  an  erection  of  four 
storeys;  he  continued  praying,  and  when  after  he 
had  finished  the  people  congratulated  him  on  his 
escape,  he  asked,  what  from?  Great  names  were 

1 "  Development  of  Mohammedanism,"  pp.  143-144. 


240       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

quoted  for  the  practice  of  praying  hastily,  and 
so  shortening  the  time  taken  by  the  devotion  as 
to  give  Satan  no  chance  of  distracting  the 
thoughts." 

Al-Ghazali,  however,  believed  in  reverence  and 
emphasized  outward  and  inward  preparation  for 
this  act  of  devotion.  "  Prayer/'  says  he,  "  is  a 
nearness  to  God  and  a  gift  which  we  present  to  the 
King  of  kings  even  as  one  who  comes  from  a  dis- 
tant village  brings  it  before  the  ruler.  And  your 
gift  is  accepted  of  God  and  will  be  returned  to 
you  on  the  great  day  of  judgment,  so  that  you  are 
responsible  to  present  it  as  beautiful  as  possible." 
He  quotes  with  approval  a  saying  of  Mohammed: 
"  True  prayer  is  to  make  one's  self  meek  and 
humble,"  and  adds  that  the  presence  of  the  heart 
is  the  soul  of  true  prayer  and  that  absent-minded- 
ness destroys  all  its  value. 

"  True  prayer,"  he  continues,  "  consists  of  six 
things:  the  presence  of  the  heart,  understanding, 
magnifying  God,  fear,  hope,  and  a  sense  of  shame." 
He  then  treats  successively  these  elements  of  true 
prayer,  showing  in  what  they  consist,  how  they  are 
occasioned  and  how  they  may  be  secured.  We 
secure  the  presence  of  our  hearts  by  a  deep  sense  of 
the  eternal.  What  he  says  in  regard  to  God's 
greatness  may  well  be  compared  with  such  passages 
as  the  eighth  Psalm,  "  What  is  man  that  Thou  art 
mindful  of  him?  "  Our  sense  of  shame  is  quick- 
ened, he  says,  by  remembering  our  shortcomings  in 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  241 

worship.  The  only  way  we  can  secure  the  presence 
of  the  heart  in  prayer  is  by  drawing  our  thoughts 
away  from  outward  diversions  and  from  those 
within.  We  should  not  pray  in  the  public  streets, 
for  there  our  mind  is  diverted.  If  we  can  pray 
towards  a  dead  wall  on  which  there  is  nothing  to 
see  it  will  be  helpful.  But  the  inward  withdrawal 
of  the  heart  is  still  more  important. 

What  he  says  about  the  true  kibla  is  also  worth 
quoting.  "  It  is  the  turning  away  of  your  out- 
ward gaze  from  everything  save  the  direction  of 
the  holy  house  of  God.  Do  you  not  then  think 
that  the  turning  aside  of  your  heart  from  all  other 
things  to  the  consideration  of  God  Most  High  is 
required  of  you  ?  It  certainly  is.  Nothing  else  is 
required  of  you  in  prayer  than  this,  so  that  I  would 
say  the  face  of  your  heart  must  turn  with  the  face 
of  your  body;  and  even  as  no  one  is  able  to  face 
the  house  of  God  save  by  turning  away  from  every 
other  direction,  so  the  heart  does  not  truly  turn 
towards  God  save  by  being  separated  from  every- 
thing else  than  himself." 

"When  you  stand  up  to  pray,"  he  says,  "re- 
member the  day  when  you  must  stand  before  God's 
throne  and  be  judged.  Be  clear  of  hypocrisy  in 
prayer.  Do  not  follow  those  who  profess  to  wor- 
ship the  face  of  God  and  at  the  same  time  seek  the 
praise  of  men.  .  .  .  Flee  from  the  devil,  for 
he  is  as  a  devouring  lion.  How  can  any  one  who 
is  pursued  by  a  lion  or  an  enemy  who  would  devour 


242       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

him  or  kill  him  say,  '  I  take  refuge  with  God  from 
them  in  this  castle  or  in  this  fort/  and  still  linger 
without  entering  the  fort?  Surely  this  will  not 
profit  him.  The  only  way  to  secure  protection  is 
to  change  his  place.  In  like  manner  whoever  fol- 
lows his  lusts,  which  are  the  lurking  place  of  Satan 
and  the  abomination  of  the  Merciful,  the  mere  say- 
ing, '  I  take  refuge  in  God  '  will  not  profit.  Who- 
soever takes  his  passions  for  a  God  he  is  under  the 
reign  of  the  devil  and  not  in  the  safe  keeping  of 
his  Lord." 

He  gives  a  long  spiritual  interpretation  of  the 
fatihah  which  is  beautiful.  "At  the  conclusion  of 
your  formal  prayer,"  he  says,  "  offer  your  humble 
petitions  and  thanksgivings  and  expect  an  answer 
and  join  in  your  petition  your  parents  and  the  rest 
of  true  believers.  And  when  you  give  the  final 
salaams  remember  the  two  angels  who  sit  on  your 
shoulders." 

In  the  giving  of  alms  he  says  seven  things  are 
required:  promptness,  secrecy,  example — (and  in 
this  connection  he  quotes  a  Tradition  ascribed  to 
the  Prophet  about  the  left  hand  not  knowing  what 
the  right  hand  doeth) — absence  of  boasting  or 
pride,  the  gift  must  not  be  spoken  of  as  great,  our 
best  is  demanded,  for  God  is  supremely  good  and 
He  will  only  take  the  best,  and  we  must  give  our 
alms  to  the  right  persons.  Of  these  he  mentions 
six  classes:  the  pious,  the  learned,  the  righteous, 
the  deserving  poor,  those  in  need  because  of  sick- 


A  Mihrab  or  prayer-niche  made  of  cedar  wood  and  dat- 
ing from  the  Eleventh  Century.     (Cairo  Museum.) 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  243 

ness  or  family  distress,  and  relatives.  With  him, 
charity  ends  at  home. 

It  is  clear,  however,  from  Al-Ghazali's  teaching 
that  only  Moslems  are  intended  in  his  classification 
of  those  who  may  receive  the  Zakat.  There  is  no 
universal  brotherhood  in  Islam.  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians are  outside  the  pale,  save  as  they  have  "  the 
rights  of  neighbours." 

Christians  might  well  regard  Al-Ghazali's  mys- 
tical method  of  reading  the  Koran  in  their  perusal 
of  the  Scriptures.  He  tells  us  we  must  regard 
eight  things:  the  greatness  of  the  revelation;  the 
majesty  of  the  Speaker;  the  need  of  a  prepared 
heart;  meditation;  understanding  the  content  of 
the  passage,  not  twisting  its  meaning;  we  are  to 
make  the  application  to  ourselves;  and  finally  we 
must  read  it  so  that  its  effect  may  show  in  our 
lives.  By  the  word  Koran,  he  says,  "  we  mean  not 
the  reading  but  the  following  of  the  teaching,  for 
the  movement  of  the  tongue  in  pronouncing  the 
words  is  of  little  value.  The  true  reading  is  when 
the  tongue  and  the  mind  and  the  heart  are  associ- 
ated. The  part  of  the  tongue  is  to  pronounce  the 
words  clearly  in  chanting.  The  part  of  the  mind 
is  to  interpret  the  meaning.  The  part  of  the  heart 
is  to  translate  it  into  life.  So  that  the  tongue 
chants  and  the  mind  interprets  and  the  heart  is  a 
preacher  and  a  warner." 

The  greatest  chapter  of  his  opus  magnum  is  un- 
doubtedly that  on  Repentance.  It  may  well  be 


244       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

compared  with  the  fifty-first  Psalm  or  the  seventh 
chapter  of  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  That 
Al-Ghazali  himself  had  a  deep  sense  of  sin,  no  one 
can  doubt.  He  was  not  a  Pharisee  but  an  earnest 
seeker  after  God.  He  teaches  clearly  that  all  the 
prophets,  including  Mohammed,  were  sinners,  al- 
though he  nowhere  mentions  any  sinfulness  in 
Jesus  Christ. 

One  of  the  most  important  passages  is  that  in 
which  he  speaks  of  the  benefit  of  asking  pardon. 
It  reads  as  follows:  "  Said  Mohammed  the  Prophet 
(upon  him  be  peace) :  '  Verily,  I  ask  forgiveness 
of  God  and  repent  towards  Him  every  day  seventy 
times/ '  He  said  this,  so  says  Al-Ghazali,  al- 
though God  had  already  testified,  "  We  have  for- 
given thee,  thy  former  and  thy  latter  sins."  "  Said 
the  Prophet  of  God, '  Truly  a  faintness  comes  over 
my  heart  until  I  ask  God  forgiveness  every  day 
one  hundred  times.'  And  said  the  Prophet  (on 
him  be  peace),  *  Whosoever  says  when  he  goes  to 
sleep,  "  I  ask  forgiveness  of  the  Great  God,  than 
whom  there  is  no  other,  the  living,  and  I  repent  of 
my  sins  three  times,"  God  will  forgive  him  his 
sins  even  though  they  were  as  the  foam  of  the  seas 
or  its  sands  piled  up,  or  as  the  numbers  of  the 
leaves  on  the  trees  or  the  days  of  the  world/  And 
said  the  Prophet  of  God  (upon  him  be  peace), 
'  Whosoever  says  that  word  I  will  forgive  his  sins 
though  he  deserts  the  army/  "  Al-Ghazali  relates 
a  story  of  one  Hudhifa,  who  said,  "  I  was  accus- 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  245 

tomed  to  speak  sharply  to  my  wife,  and  I  said, '  O, 
Apostle  of  God,  I  am  afraid  lest  my  tongue  should 
cause  me  to  enter  the  fire/  and  then  the  Prophet  of 
God  (upon  whom  be  peace)  said,  '  Where  art  thou 
in  asking  for  forgiveness  compared  with  me,  for 
I  ask  forgiveness  of  God  every  day  one  hundred 
times/  And  'Ayesha  said  (may  God  give  her  His 
favour),  concerning  the  Prophet,  '  He  said  to  me, 
"  If  you  have  committed  a  sin  ask  forgiveness  of 
God  and  repent  to  Him,  for  true  repentance  for  a  sin 
is  turning  away  from  it  and  asking  forgiveness/' 
And  the  Apostle  of  God  (upon  whom  be  peace) 
was  accustomed  to  say  when  he  asked  for  forgive- 
ness :  '  O  God,  forgive  my  sin  and  my  ignorance 
and  my  excess  in  what  I  have  done,  and  what  Thou 
knowest  better  than  I  do.  O  God,  forgive  me  my 
trifling  and  my  earnestness,  my  mistakes  and  my 
wrong  intentions  and  all  that  I  have  done.  O  God, 
forgive  me  that  which  I  have  committed  in  the  past 
and  that  which  I  will  commit  in  the  future,  and 
what  I  have  hidden  and  what  I  have  revealed  and 
what  Thou  knowest  better  than  I  do,  Thou  who  art 
the  first  and  the  last  and  Thou  art  the  Almighty/  "  * 
How  different  all  this  is  from  the  present  day 
superficial  teaching  about  the  sinlessness  of  Mo- 
hammed which  is  current  in  popular  Islam. 

Since  Al-Ghazali  tells  this  about  Mohammed  and 
his  need  for  forgiveness,  he  naturally  deals  with 
repentance  in  no  superficial  fashion  but  as  one  who 

1 "  Ihya"  chapter  on  Repentance. 


246       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

has  tasted  the  bitterness  of  remorse  and  has  dis- 
covered his  own  inability  to  meet  the  demands  o£ 
the  Moral  Law.  His  book  on  repentance  has  the 
following  sections:  (1)  The  reality  of  repentance. 
(2)  The  necessity  for  repentance.  (3)  True  re- 
pentance expected  by  God.  (4)  Of  what  a  man 
should  repent,  namely,  the  character  of  sin. 
(5)  How  small  sins  become  great.  (6)  Perfect  re- 
pentance, its  conditions  and  its  duration.  (7)  The 
degree  of  repentance.  (8)  How  to  become  truly 
penitent. 

One  can  only  give  a  summary  of  his  teaching. 
He  rises  far  above  the  Koran.  In  fact  in  some 
cases  his  proof  texts,  when  we  consider  the  context, 
are  a  terrible  indictment  of  the  Prophet.1 

He  says  the  necessity  of  repentance  always  and 
for  all  men  is  evident  because  no  one  of  the  human 
race  is  free  from  sin.  "  For  even  though  in  some 
cases  he  is  free  from  outward  sin  of  his  bodily 
members,  he  is  not  free  from  sin  of  the  heart; 
though  free  from  passion  he  is  not  free  from  the 
whisperings  of  Satan  and  forgetfulness  of  God,  or 
of  coming  short  of  the  knowledge  of  God  and  His 

1  One  of  the  texts  he  uses  is  (Surah  2,  verse  222),  "  Verily, 
God  loves  those  who  repent  and  loves  those  who  are  puri- 
fied." The  context  is  in  relation  to  the  infamous  statement 
"Your  wives  are  your  tillage,  etc.,"  which  many  Moslem 
commentators  interpret  as  a  license  for  immorality.  No 
wonder  that  Al-Ghazali  was  led  in  this  connection  to  begin  to 
speak  on  the  text  "all  have  sinned"  although  he  does  not 
quote  St.  Paul's  first  chapter  to  the  Romans. 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  247 

attributes  and  His  works."  All  this  is  a  failure  of 
attainment  and  has  its  reasons ;  but  if  a  man  should 
forsake  the  causes  of  this  forgetfulness  and  employ 
himself  with  the  opposite  virtues  it  would  be  a  re- 
turn to  the  right  way;  and  the  significance  of  re- 
pentance is  the  return.  You  cannot  imagine  that 
any  one  of  us  is  free  from  this  defect,  for  we  only 
differ  in  degrees,  but  the  root  undoubtedly  exists 
in  us.  Of  course  he  ignores  original  sin,  being  a 
Moslem,  but  he  makes  a  great  deal  of  the  effect  that 
unrepented  sin  causes;  but  it  enters  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  heart  until  the  image  of  God  on  the 
mirror  of  the  human  soul  is  effaced. 

Another  illustration  he  uses  is  that  of  the  heart 
as  a  goodly  garment  which  has  been  dragged 
through  filth  and  needs  to  be  washed  again  with 
soap  and  water.  "  Using  the  heart  in  the  exercise 
of  our  passions  makes  it  filthy.  We  must  there- 
fore wash  it  in  the  water  of  tears  and  by  the 
rubbing  of  repentance.  It  is  for  you  to  rub  it 
clean  and  then  God  will  accept  it."  How  near  and 
yet  how  far  from  the  teaching  of  David  and  Isaiah 
and  St.  Paul!  Did  Al-Ghazali  ever  hear  some 
pious  Jew  quote  Isaiah's  statement  that  "  all  our 
righteousnesses  are  as  filthy  rags  "  ?/ 

True  repentance  has  a  twofold  result  according 
to  this  Moslem  theologian.  Although  he  does  not 
touch  the  deeper  problem  of  how  God  can  be  just 
and  justify  the  sinner,  he  teaches  that  the  result 
of  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins  is  that  "  we  stand 


248       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

before  God  as  though  we  had  none/*  and  that  "  we 
attain  a  higher  degree  of  righteousness."  The 
cross  of  Christ  is  the  missing  link  in  Al-Ghazali's 
creed.  He  comes  very  close  to  Christianity  and 
yet  always  misses  the  heart  of  its  teaching.  He  is 
groping  towards  the  light  but  does  not  grasp  the 
hand  of  a  friend  or  find  a  Redeemer.  It  is  all  a 
righteousness  by  works  and  an  attainment  of  the 
knowledge  of  God  by  meditation  without  justifica- 
tion through  an  atonement. 

Yet  Al-Ghazali's  teaching  on  "  the  Practice  of 
the  Presence  of  God  "  is  very  much  like  that  of 
Brother  Lawrence  in  his  celebrated  Essay.  In  his 
"  Beginner's  Guide  to  Religion  and  Morals  "  (Al 
Badayet)  he  writes:  "Know,  therefore,  that  your 
companion  who  never  deserts  you  at  home  or 
abroad,  when  you  are  asleep  or  when  you  are 
awake,  whether  you  are  dead  or  alive,  is  your  Lord 
and  Master,  your  Creator  and  Preserver,  and  when- 
soever you  remember  Him  He  is  sitting  beside  you. 
For  God  Himself  hath  said,  *  I  am  the  close  com- 
panion of  those  who  remember  me/  And  when- 
ever your  heart  is  contrite  with  sorrow  because  of 
your  neglect  of  religion  He  is  your  companion  who 
keeps  close  to  you,  for  God  hath  said,  '  I  am  with 
those  who  are  broken-hearted  on  my  account/ 
And  if  you  only  knew  Him  as  you  ought  to  know 
Him  you  would  take  Him  as  a  companion  and 
forsake  all  men  for  His  sake.  But  as  you  are 
unable  to  do  this  at  all  times,  I  warn  you  that  you 


AL-GHAZATI  AS  A  MYSTIC  249 

set  aside  a  certain  time  by  night  and  by  day  for 
communion  with  your  Creator  that  you  may  de- 
light yourself  in  Him  and  that  He  may  deliver  you 
from  evil."  At  times,  especially  when  he  speaks 
of  the  veils  that  hide  reality  and  God,  we  are  re- 
minded of  the  lines  of  Whitehead  on  "  the  Second 
Day  of  Creation  " : 

"  I  gaze  aloof  at  the  tissued  roof 

Where  time  and  space  are  the  warp  and  woof, 
Which  the  King  of  Kings,  like  a  curtain  flings, 
O'er  the  dreadfulness  of  eternal  things. 

But  if  I  could  see,  as  in  truth  they  be, 

The  glories  that  encircle  me, 

I  should  lightly  hold  this  tissued  fold 

With  its  marvellous  curtain  of  blue  and  gold ; 

For  soon  the  whole,  like  a  parched  scroll, 

Shall  before  my  amazed  eyes  unroll, 
And  without  a  screen  at  one  burst  be  seen 
The  Presence  in  which  I  have  always  been." 

But  Al-Ghazali  did  not  know  God's  nearness 
through  the  Incarnation  of  Christ.  The  hoped-for 
Vision  of  God  was  always  full  of  fear  and  dread 
of  judgment.  The  fear  of  God  was  the  beginning 
and  end  of  wisdom.  What  he  understood  by  the 
fear  of  God  is  clear  from  the  following  passage 
taken  from  the  "  Revival  of  Religious  Sciences  ": 
"  By  the  fear  of  God  I  do  not  mean  a  fear  like 
that  of  women  when  their  eyes  swim  and  their 
1 "  Al-Badajet,"  Cairo  Edition,  p.  41. 


250       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  APTEE  GOD 

hearts  beat  at  hearing  some  eloquent  religious  dis- 
course, which  they  quickly  forget  and  turn  again 
to  frivolity.  That  is  no  real  fear  at  all.  He  who 
fears  a  thing  flees  from  it,  and  he  who  hopes  for  a 
thing  strives  for  it,  and  the  only  fear  that  will  save 
thee  is  that  fear  that  forbids  sinning  against  God 
and  instils  obedience  to  Him.  Beware  of  the 
shallow  fear  of  women  and  fools,  who,  when  they 
hear  of  the  terrors  of  the  Lord,  say  lightly,  '  We 
take  refuge  in  God/  and  at  the  same  time  continue 
in  the  very  sins  which  will  destroy  them.  Satan 
laughs  at  such  pious  ejaculations.  They  are  like  a 
man  who  should  meet  a  lion  in  a  desert,  while  there 
is  a  fortress  at  no  great  distance  away,  and  when 
he  sees  the  ravenous  beast,  should  stand  exclaim- 
ing, '  I  take  refuge  in  God/  God  will  not  protect 
thee  from  the  terrors  of  His  judgment  unless  thou 
really  take  refuge  in  Him/' 

Included  with  his  fear  of  God  there  was  always 
a  fear  of  death  which  can  best  be  described  as 
mediaeval  or  early  Moslem.  Towards  the  close  of 
his  life  he  composed  a  short  work  on  eschatology 
called  "  The  Precious  Pearl."  It  is  no  less  lurid 
in  its  terrible  pictures  of  death  and  the  judgment 
than  some  of  his  older  works.  In  it  he  says: 
"  When  you  watch  a  dead  man  and  see  that  the 
saliva  has  run  from  his  mouth,  that  his  lips  are 
contracted,  his  face  black,  the  whites  of  his  eyes 
showing,  know  that  he  is  damned,  and  that  the 
fact  of  his  damnation  in  the  other  world  has  just 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  251 

been  revealed  to  him.  But  if  you  see  the  dead  with 
a  smile  on  his  lips,  a  serene  countenance,  his  eyes 
half-closed,  know  that  he  has  just  received  the 
good  news  of  the  happiness  which  awaits  him  in 
the  other  world.  .  .  . 

"On  the  day  of  Judgment,  when  all  men  are  gath- 
ered before  the  throne  of  God,  their  accounts  are 
all  cast  up,  and  their  good  and  evil  deeds  weighed. 
During  all  this  time  each  man  believes  he  is  the 
only  one  with  whom  God  is  dealing.  Though 
peradventure  at  the  same  moment  God  is  taking 
account  of  countless  multitudes  whose  number  is 
known  to  Him  only.  Men  do  not  see  each  other 
or  hear  each  other  speak." 

In  summing  up  the  character  of  the  Mystic 
Claud  Field  says:  "As  St.  Augustine  found  de- 
liverance from  doubt  and  error  in  his  inward  ex- 
perience of  God,  and  Descartes  in  self -conscious- 
ness, so  Ghazali,  unsatisfied  with  speculation  and 
troubled  by  scepticism,  surrenders  himself  to  the 
will  of  God.  Leaving  others  to  demonstrate  the 
existence  of  God  from  the  external  world,  he  finds 
God  revealed  in  the  depths  of  his  own  conscious- 
ness and  the  mystery  of  his  own  free  will.  .  .  . 
He  is  a  unique  and  lonely  figure  in  Islam,  and  has 
to  this  day  been  only  partially  understood.  In  the 
Middle  Ages  his  fame  was  eclipsed  by  that  of 
Averroes,  whose  commentary  on  Aristotle  is  al- 
luded to  by  Dante,  and  was  studied  by  Thomas 
Aquinas  and  the  schoolman.  Averroes'  system 


262       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

was  rounded  and  complete,  but  Ghazali  was  one 
of  those  'whose  reach  exceeds  their  grasp';  he 
was  always  striking  after  something  he  had  not  at- 
tained, and  stands  in  many  respects  nearer  to  mod- 
ern mind  than  Averroes.  Renan,  though  far  from 
sympathizing  with  his  religious  earnestness,  calls 
him  *  the  most  original  mind  among  Arabian 
philosophers/ ' 

The  disciple  of  Al-Ghazali  is  perhaps  of  all  Mos- 
lems the  nearest  to  the  Gospel,  and  we  may  hope 
that  when  his  works  are  carefully  studied  and  com- 
pared with  the  teaching  of  Christianity  many  may 
find  in  him  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  them  to  Christ. 
Educated  Moslems  of  to-day  may  well  heed  the 
warning  with  which  Al-Ghazali  closes  his  "  Con- 
fessions ":  "  The  knowledge  of  which  we  speak  is 
not  derived  from  sources  accessible  to  human  dili- 
gence, and  that  is  why  progress  in  mere  worldly 
knowledge  renders  the  sinner  more  hardened  in  his 
revolt  against  God.  True  knowledge,  on  the  con- 
trary, inspires  in  him  who  is  initiated  in  it  more 
fear  and  more  reverence,  and  raises  a  barrier  of 
defense  between  him  and  sin.  He  m^y  slip  and 
stumble,  it  is  true,  as  is  inevitable  with  one  encom- 
passed by  human  infirmity,  but  these  slips  and 
stumbles  will  not  weaken  his  faith.  The  true  Mos- 
lem succumbs  occasionally  to  temptation  but  he 
repents  and  will  not  persevere  obstinately  in  the 
path  of  error.  I  pray  God  the  Omnipotent  to  place 
us  in  the  ranks  of  His  chosen,  among  the  number 


AL-GHAZALI  AS  A  MYSTIC  253 

of  those  whom  He  directs  in  the  path  of  safety,  in 
whom  He  inspires  fervour  lest  they  forget  Him; 
whom  He  cleanses  from  all  defilement,  that  nothing 
may  remain  in  them  except  Himself ;  yea  of  those 
whom  He  indwells  completely,  that  they  may  adore 
none  beside  Him." 

Being  a  Moslem,  Al-Ghazali  was  either  too 
proud  to  search  for  the  true  historical  facts  of  the 
Christian  religion,  or  perhaps  it  would  be  more 
charitable  to  say  that  he  had  no  adequate  oppor- 
tunity, in  spite  of  his  quotations  and  misquotations 
from  the  "  Gospels."  Otherwise  he  could  have  found 
there  what  would  have  met  his  heart-hunger  and 
satisfied  his  soul — the  manifestation  of  God  not  in 
some  intangible  principle,  but  in  a  living  person,  in 
Jesus  Christ,  who  "  is  the  image  of  the  invisible 
God,  the  first  born  of  every  creature.  For  by  Him 
were  all  things  created  that  are  in  heaven,  and  that 
are  in  earth,  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be 
thrones,  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers ; 
in  Him  are  all  things,  and  by  Him  all  things  con- 
sist." (Colossians  1:  15-17.)  Those  who  dwell 
in  Christ  and  in  whom  He  dwells  are  a  part  of 
His  spiritual  body.  They  are  the  branches  of  the 
living  Vine.  They  are  one  in  life  and  purpose,  al- 
though they  remain  conscious  evermore  of  their 
own  individual  existence ;  they  are  fitted  progress- 
ively for  a  deeper  communion  with  God.  To  such 
a  conception  the  Sufi  never  attained.  Al-Ghazali 
admits  that  no  man  has  seen  God  at  any  time,  but 


264       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

he  failed  to  realize  that  "  the  Only  Begotten,  Who 
is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  hath  declared  Him." 
The  artificial  glory  of  Mohammed  in  his  case,  as 
for  centuries  afterwards,  hid  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Yet  not  altogether,  as  the  next  chapter  will  make 
clear. 


IX 

Jesus  Christ  in  Al-Ghazali 


Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee 
With  sweetness  fills  my  breast ; 

But  sweeter  far  Thy  face  to  see, 
And  in  Thy  presence  rest. 

Nor  voice  can  sing,  nor  heart  can  frame, 

Nor  can  the  memory  find, 
A  sweeter  sound  than  Thy  blest  name, 

O  Saviour  of  mankind ! 

O  hope  of  every  contrite  heart ! 

O  joy  of  all  the  meek! 
To  those  who  fall,  how  kind  Thou  art ! 

How  good  to  those  who  seek ! 

But  what  to  those  who  find  ?    Ah  I  this 
Nor  tongue  nor  pen  can  show : 

The  love  of  Jesus — what  it  is 
None  but  His  loved  ones  know. 

-Bernard  of  Clairvaux — almost  a  contempo- 
rary (1091-1152). 


IX 

JESUS  CHRIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI 

JESUS  CHRIST  is  the  Touch-Stone  of  char- 
acter, the  Master  of  all  spiritual  leaders  and 
the  one  supreme  and  infallible  Judge  who  can 
pronounce  an  unerring  verdict  concerning  the 
truth  of  any  religious  system  or  teaching.  What 
place  has  Jesus  in  the  teaching  of  the  greatest  of 
all  Moslem  theologians,  what  place  had  He  in  the 
heart  of  this  great  mystic,  this  seeker  after  God, 
who,  whatever  else  he  may  have  been,  was  utterly 
sincere  in  his  search  ?  Al-Ghazali,  as  a  student  of 
the  Koran,  must  have  noticed  that  in  this  book 
Christ  occupies  a  high  place ;  no  fewer  than  three 
of  the  chapters  of  the  Koran,  namely,  that  of 
Amram's  Family  (Surah  III),  that  of  The  Table 
(Surah  V),  and  that  of  Mary  (Surah  XIX),  de- 
rive their  names  from  references  to  Jesus  Christ 
and  His  work.  The  very  fact  that  Jesus  Christ 
has  a  place  in  the  literature  of  Islam,  and  is 
acknowledged  by  all  Moslems  as  one  of  their 
greater  prophets  in  itself  therefore  challenges  com- 
parison between  Him  and  Mohammed.  Did  Al- 

257 


258       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Ghazali  ever  meet  this  challenge  and  in  how  far 
did  he  compare  Mohammed  with  Christ  ?  It  is  our 
purpose  in  this  chapter  to  answer  the  question  by 
collating  all  the  important  references  in  the  Ihya 
and  his  other  works  and  then  to  draw  some  con- 
clusions both  as  to  his  sources  and  his  opinions. 
The  reader  may  judge  for  himself  how  far  Al- 
Ghazali  is  a  schoolmaster  to  lead  Moslems  to 
Christ. 

We  search  in  vain  among  all  his  works  for  a 
sketch  of  the  life  of  Christ  or  of  His  teaching, 
Al-Ghazali  doubtless  had  read  and  was  probably 
well  acquainted  with  the  only  popular  work  known 
which  gives  a  connected  account  of  the  life  of 
Jesus  Christ  according  to  Moslem  sources,  namely, 
Kitab  qustis  al  Anbiya  by  Ibn  Ibrahim  Ath- 
Tha'labi,  a  doctor  of  theology  of  the  Shafi  School, 
who  died  in  A.  H.  427  (A.  D.  1036).  The  fabulous 
character  of  this  mass  of  traditions  has  been  shown 
in  a  translation  of  the  section  which  deals  with 
Jesus  Christ.1  Al-Ghazali  does  not  give  altogether 
the  same  stories  as  are  given  by  Ath-Tha'labi  but 
gives  a  great  number  of  other  incidents  and  re- 
ported sayings,  many  of  which  resemble  those 
found  in  the  Gospels  and  others  which  are  wholly 
apocryphal. 

The  question  again  arises  where  did  Al-Ghazali 
gain  this  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  ?  Did  he  have 
access  to  a  Persian  or  Arabic  translation;  or  was 

'Zwemer,  "The  Moslem  Christ." 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        259 

all  this  material  which  we  have  collated,  the  result 
of  hearsay,  gathered  from  the  lips  of  Christian 
monks  and  Jewish  rabbis  ?  It  is  perfectly  clear  that 
he  was  acquainted  with  Old  Testament  tradition 
even  more  than  with  that  of  the  New  Testament. 
There  are  scores  of  passages  in  which  he  refers  to 
the  teachings  of  Moses,  the  Psalms  of  David,  and 
the  lives  of  the  Old  Testament  Prophets.  We  have 
already  referred  to  translations  of  the  Bible  into 
Arabic  before  the  time  of  Al-Ghazali  in  our  first 
chapter.  There  is  a  tradition  that  "  the  People  of 
the  Book  used  to  read  the  Torah  in  Hebrew  and  in- 
terpret it  in  Arabic  to  the  followers  of  Islam." 
Another  tradition  says  that  "  Ka'ab  the  Rabbi 
brought  a  book  to  Omar  the  Caliph  and  said,  *  Here 
is  the  Torah,  read  it.' '  We  learn  from  the  Jew- 
ish Encyclopaedia  that  "  The  fihrist  of  al-Nadim 
mentions  an  Ahmed  ibn  Abd  Allah  ibn  Salam  who 
translated  the  Bible  into  Arabic,  at  the  time  of 
Haroun  ar-Rashid,  and  that  Fahr  ud-Din  ar-Razi 
mentions  a  translation  of  Habbakuk  by  the  son  of 
Rabban  At-Tabari.  Many  of  the  Arabic  His- 
torians as  At-Tabari,  Mas'udi,  Hamza,  and  Biruni 
cite  passages  and  recount  the  early  history  of  the 
Jews  in  a  most  circumstantial  manner.  Ibn  Ku- 
taibah,  the  historian  (d.  889),  says  that  he  read 
the  Bible ;  and  he  even  made  a  collection  of  Biblical 
passages  in  a  work  which  has  been  preserved  by 
Ibn  Jauzi  of  the  twelfth  century."  The  first  im- 
•Goldziher,  in  "  Z.  D.  M.  G,"  XXXII,  344. 


260       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

portant  Arabic  translation  is  that  of  Sa'adia  Gaon 
(892-942).  The  influence  of  this  translation  was 
in  its  way  as  great  as  that  of  Gaon's  philosophical 
work. 

A  version  of  the  Psalms  was  made  by  Hafiz  al- 
Quti  in  the  tenth  century  and  from  internal  evi- 
dence we  know  that  the  author  had  been  Christian. 
Another  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Arabic 
was  made  by  the  Jews  in  Cairo  in  the  middle  of 
the  eleventh  century.  The  translation  of  Sa'adia 
had  become  a  standard  work  in  Egypt,  Palestine 
and  Syria,  by  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  and  it 
was  revised  about  A.  D.  1070.1  As  regards  Persian 
translations  of  the  Bible  we  learn  from  the  Jewish 
Encyclopaedia  that  according  to  Maimonides,  the 
Pentateuch  was  translated  into  Persian  many  hun- 
dred years  previous  to  Mohammed.  But  this 
statement  cannot  be  further  substantiated.  In  re- 
gard to  Arabic  versions  of  the  Gospels  we  have 
already  given  Dr.  Kilgour's  statement. 

Is  it  not  probable  that  one  or  other  of  these 
versions  of  the  Gospel  was  known  to  Al-Ghazali? 
Does  he  not  himself  state:  "I  have  read  in  the 
Gospel  "  ?  Not  only  does  he  reproduce  the  stories 
and  sayings  of  Christ  from  the  Gospels  but  in  some 
cases,  as  the  reader  will  see,  the  very  words  of  the 
text.  It  is  true  that  there  is  much  apocryphal 
matter  also  of  which  the  canonical  Gospels  know 
nothing.  We  are  in  ignorance  and  we  must  re- 
J"  Jewish  Encyclopaedia,"  Art  Bible  Versions. 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        261 

main  in  ignorance  whence  Al-Ghazali  derived  this 
material;  or  did  he  invent  it  even  as  the  men  of 
his  day  invented  stories  about  Mohammed? 

In  the  Ihya  we  find  the  following  incidents,  real 
and  apocryphal,  regarding  the  life  of  Christ  on 
earth  as  a  prophet  and  saint.1  We  begin  with  Al- 
Ghazali's  witness  to  His  sinlessness:  "  It  is  said 
that  the  devil  (may  God  curse  him)  appeared  to 
Jesus  and  said,  '  Say  there  is  no  God  but  God/ 
He  replied:  '  The  word  is  true  but  I  will  not  repeat 
it  after  you/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  23.)  Again:  "  It  is 
related  that  when  Jesus  was  born,  the  devils  came 
to  Satan  and  said:  'All  the  idols  have  fallen  on 
their  faces/  He  said:  '  This  has  happened  on  your 
account/  Then  he  flew  until  he  reached  the 
regions  of  the  earth;  there  he  found  Jesus  had 
been  born  and  the  angels  were  protecting  him. 
So  he  returned  to  the  devils  and  said  to  them: 
'  Truly  a  Prophet  was  .  born  yesterday.  No 
woman  has  ever  given  birth  before  to  a  child  when 
I  was  not  present  except  in  this  case/  And  that 
is  why  men  now  despair  of  worshipping  idols/' 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  26.) 

"  It  is  related  that  Jesus  one  day  was  pillowing 
his  head  on  a  stone;  and  the  devil  passed  by  and 

*After  completing  this  research  I  found  a  fuller  account  of 
all  references  to  Jesus  Christ  in  Moslem  Literature,  espe- 
cially the  Ihya  as  given  by  Michael  Asin  et  Palacios  in 
Logia  ct  Agrapha  Domini  Jesus  apud  Moslemicos,  etc.,  in 
Patrologia  Orientalis,  Tome  XIII  fascicule  3.  Paris  1917. 


262       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  APTEE  GOD 

said:  '  O  Jesus,  now  you  have  shown  your  love  for 
the  world ! '  Then  Jesus  picked  up  the  stone, 
threw  it  at  him  and  said:  '  Take  it  and  the  world.'  " 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  26.)  We  find  this  reference  to  the 
days  of  His  youth  in  Nazareth :  "  Some  one  said 
to  Jesus:  'Who  gave  you  your  education?'  He 
replied:  '  No  one.  But  I  beheld  the  ignorance  of 
the  foolish  despicable  and  so  I  departed  from  it/  ' 
"  Jesus  the  Prophet  was  of  those  who  were  espe- 
cially favoured.  Among  the  proofs  of  it  is  this 
that  he  called  down  peace  upon  himself,  for  he 
said :  '  Peace  be  on  me  the  day  I  was  born  and  the 
day  I  shall  die  and  the  day  I  shall  be  raised  up 
alive/  And  this  was  because  of  his  peace  of  mind 
and  his  loving  kindness  towards  men.  But  as  for 
John  the  son  of  Zachariah  (on  him  be  peace),  he 
took  the  place  of  awe  and  fear  towards  God  and  did 
not  utter  these  words  until  after  they  were  re- 
peated to  him  by  his  Creator,  who  said :  '  Peace  be 
upon  him  the  day  he  was  born  and  the  day  he  died 
and  the  day  he  was  raised  again/  '  This  is  an  in- 
teresting critical  comment  on  the  two  passages  re- 
ferred to,  which  occur  in  the  same  chapter  of  the 
Koran,  and  I  have  never  seen  them  used  elsewhere 
as  an  argument  for  the  superiority  of  Christ  to 
John.  (Vol.  IV,  p.  245.) 

Al-Ghazali  gives  Jesus  the  usual  titles  given  Him 
in  the  Koran,  namely,  Son  of  Mary,  Spirit  of  God, 
Word  of  God,  Prophet  and  Apostle.  But  these 
latter  titles  mean  little  because  he  endorses  the 


JESUS  CHEIST  IS  AL  GHAZALI        263 

strange  Moslem  theory  that  there  have  been  no 
less  than  134,000  prophets  since  the  world  began. 
In  his  book  "Al-Iqtasad  "  he  devotes  a  long  argu- 
ment to  prove  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  indeed 
a  prophet,  basing  it  upon  his  teaching  and  miracles 
(pp.  83-86).  In  his  Jaivahir  ul-Koran  he  even 
classes  Mary  the  Virgin  with  the  prophets  and 
gives  the  list  of  these  worthies  in  the  following 
curious  order:  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham,  Moses, 
Aaron,  Zachariah,  John,  Jesus,  Mary,  David,  Solo- 
mon, Joshua,  Lot,  Idris,  Khudra,  Shu'aib,  Elijah, 
and  Mohammed! 

Regarding  the  fasting  of  our  Lord,  Al-Ghazali 
says:  "  It  is  related  that  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace) 
remained  for  sixty  days  without  eating,  engaged  in 
prayer;  then  he  began  to  think  of  bread  and  behold 
a  loaf  of  bread  appeared  between  his  hands ;  then 
he  sat  weeping  because  he  had  forgotten  his 
prayers.  And  behold  an  old  man  came  to  him 
and  Jesus  said:  '  God  bless  you,  O  servant  of  God. 
Call  upon  God  Most  High,  for  I  too  was  in  a  sad 
condition  and  I  thought  of  bread  until  my  prayer 
departed/  Then  the  old  man  prayed:  '  O  God,  if 
thou  knowest  any  occasion  when  the  thought  of 
bread  entered  my  head  when  I  was  praying  do  not 
forgive  me ! '  Then  he  said  to  Jesus :  '  When 
anything  is  brought  to  me  to  eat  I  eat  it  without 
even  thinking  what  it  is/"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  61.) 
The  following  story  seems  to  be  based  on  the  in- 
junction of  the  Gospel  "  to  pluck  out  the  eye  "  that 


264       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

offends:  "  It  is  related  of  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace) 
that  he  once  went  out  to  pray  for  rain  and  when 
the  people  gathered  together  Jesus  said  to  them, 
'  Whosoever  of  you  hath  committed  a  sin  let  him 
turn  back/  so  they  all  turned  away  and  there  was 
no  one  left  in  the  cave  with  him  save  one.  And 
Jesus  said  unto  him,  'Have  you  any  sin?'  He 
replied:  'By  God,  I  do  not  know  of  any  except 
that  one  day  when  I  was  praying  a  woman  passed 
by  me  and  I  looked  upon  her  with  this  eye  and 
when  she  had  passed  I  put  my  finger  in  my  eye  and 
plucked  it  out  and  followed  her  to  ask  her  pardon/ 
Then  Jesus  said  to  him, '  Call  upon  God  that  I  may 
believe  in  your  sincerity/  Then  the  man  prayed 
and  the  heavens  were  covered  with  clouds  and  the 
rain  poured  down."  (Vol.  II,  p.  217.) 

The  following  stories  are  related  of  the  miracle- 
working  Christ:  "Said  the  disciples  to  Jesus: 
'  What  do  you  think  of  the  ^war-piece  (money)  ?  ' 
They  said:  '  We  think  it  is  good/  He  said:  '  But 
as  for  me  I  value  it  and  ashes  the  same/  "  (Vol. 
Ill,  p.  161.)  "It  was  said  to  the  Prophet  that 
Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace)  used  to  walk  upon  the 
water.  He  replied:  'Had  he  still  more  striven 
after  holiness,  he  would  have  walked  on  the  air/  " 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  71.)  "It  is  related  that  a  certain 
robber  waylaid  travellers  among  the  children  of 
Israel  for  forty  years.  Jesus  passed  by  that  way 
and  behind  him  walked  a  saint  of  the  worshippers 
of  the  people  of  Israel,  one  of  his  disciples.  Said 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        265 

the  robber  to  himself :  '  This  is  the  Prophet  of 
God  who  passes  by  and  with  him  one  of  his  dis- 
ciples. If  I  should  come  down  I  would  be  the 
third/  "  He  then  goes  on  to  say  that  the  robber 
tried  to  show  his  humility  by  following  not  Christ 
but  his  disciple.  Jesus  rebukes  them  both  because 
of  their  sins.  (Vol.  IV,  p.  110.)  "  It  is  related 
that  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  passed  by  a  blind 
man  who  was  a  leper  and  lame  of  both  feet  because 
of  paralysis  and  his  flesh  was  consumed  by  leprosy, 
and  he  was  saying:  '  Praise  be  to  God  who  has 
kept  me  in  good  health  and  saved  me  from  many 
things  which  have  befallen  others  of  his  creatures/ 
Then  Jesus  said  to  him :  '  O  thou  friend,  from  what 
kind  of  affliction  do  I  see  that  you  are  free  ? '  and 
he  replied:  'O  Spirit  of  God,  I  am  better  than 
those  in  whose  heart  God  has  not  put  anything  of 
his  knowledge  and  his  grace.'  And  Jesus  said: 
'  You  have  spoken  truly.  Stretch  forth  your  hand/ 
and  he  stretched  forth  his  hand  and  became  of  per- 
fect health  both  as  to  his  body  and  his  appearance, 
for  God  had  taken  away  all  his  sickness.  So  he 
accompanied  Jesus  and  worshipped  with  him." 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  250.) 

Al-Ghazali  often  pictures  the  power  of  Jesus  to 
heal  the  sick,  for  Christ  as  the  Merciful  One  ap- 
peals to  Moslems  always  and  everywhere.  We 
have  for  example  in  the  Masnavi-i-Ma'anavi  this 
beautiful  picture  which  can  be  found  in  prose, 
section  by  section  in  Al-Ghazali  too. 


266       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

"  The  house  of  'Isa  was  the  banquet  of  men  of  heart, 
Ho !  afflicted  one,  quit  not  this  door ! 
From  all  sides  the  people  ever  thronged, 
Many  blind  and  lame,  and  halt  and  afflicted, 
To  the  door  of  the  house  of  'Isa  at  dawn, 
That  with  his  breath  he  might  heal  their  ailments. 
As  soon  as  he  had  finished  his  orisons, 
That  holy  one  would  come  forth  at  the  third  hour. 
He  viewed  these  impotent  folk,  troop  by  troop, 
Sitting  at  his  door  in  hope  and  expectation ; 
He  spoke  to  them,  saying, '  O  stricken  ones ! 
The  desires  of  all  of  you  have  been  granted  by 

God: 

Arise,  walk  without  pain  or  affliction. 
Acknowledge  the  mercy  and  beneficence  of  God ! ' 
Then  all,  as  camels  whose  feet  are  shackled, 
When  you  loose  their  feet  in  the  road, 
Straightway  rush  in  joy  and  delight  to  the  halting- 
place 
So  did  they  run  upon  their  feet  at  his  command." 

Many  of  the  miracles,  however,  are  puerile,  as 
in  this  story:  "A  certain  man  accompanied  Jesus 
the  Son  of  Mary  (upon  him  be  peace)  and  said: 
'  I  would  like  to  be  with  you  as  your  companion.' 
So  they  departed  and  arrived  at  the  bank  of  a  Driver 
and  sat  down  and  took  their  meal.  Now  they  had 
three  loaves,  so  they  ate  two  and  one  remained. 
Then  Jesus  arose  and  went  to  the  river  to  drink 
and  returning  did  not  find  the  remaining  loaf. 
He  said  to  the  man:  '  Who  took  the  loaf?  '  He 
replied:  'I  know  not.'  So  he  departed  with  his 


JESUS  CHEIST  IF  AL-GHAZALI        267 

companion  and  saw  a  gazelle  with  her  two  young, 
and  Jesus  called  one  of  them  and  it  came  to  him 
and  he  killed  it  and  prepared  it  and  they  ate  to- 
gether. Then  he  said  to  the  young  gazelle:  '  Get 
up  by  God's  will/  and  it  arose  and  departed.  And 
he  turned  to  the  man  and  said:  '  I  ask  you  in  the 
name  of  Him  who  worked  this  miracle  before  your 
eyes,  who  took  the  loaf  ?  '  He  answered :  '  I  know 
not/  So  they  departed  to  a  cave  and  Jesus  (upon 
whom  be  peace)  began  to  collect  the  pebbles  on  the 
sand  and  said:  'Become  bread  by  God's  permis- 
sion ! '  and  they  became  bread ;  then  he  divided 
them  into  three  parts  and  said :  'A  third  is  for  me, 
a  third  is  for  you  and  a  third  is  for  the  man  who 
took  the  loaf/  and  the  man  said:  '  I  am  he  who 
took  the  loaf.'  Jesus  replied:  'Take  all  of  it  and 
depart  from  me.'  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  188. )  This  story 
is  related  by  Al-Ghazali  in  his  chapter  on  greed 
and  covetousness  to  show  that  he  who  loves  this 
world  cannot  be  a  companion  of  the  saints ! 

That  Jesus  was  gentle  in  word  and  conduct  seems 
to  be  the  lesson  taught  in  the  following  two  stories : 
"  It  is  related  of  Jesus  that  once  a  pig  passed  by 
him  and  he  said  to  it:  '  Go  in  peace.'  They  said 
to  him:  '  O  Spirit  of  God,  why  do  you  say  this  to 
a  pig.'  He  replied:  'I  dislike  to  accustom  my 
tongue  to  use  any  evil  words.' '  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  87.) 
"  !t  is  related  that  Jesus  with  his  disciples  once 
passed  the  carcase  of  a  dog.  Said  the  disciples: 
'  How  noisome  is  the  smell  of  this  dog.'  Said 


268       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTER  GOD 

Jesus  (on  him  be  peace) :  '  How  beautiful  is  the 
shine  of  his  white  teeth/  as  if  he  wanted  to  rebuke 
them  for  abusing  the  dog  and  to  warn  them  not  to 
mention  anything  of  what  God  has  created  save  at 
its  best/'  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  150.)  This  incident  is 
given  by  Jallal  ud  Din  in  poetic  form: 

"  One  evening  Jesus  lingered  in  the  market-place, 
Teaching  the  people  parables  of  truth  and  grace, 
When  in  the  square  remote  a  crowd  was  seen  to 

rise 
And  stop  with  loathing  gestures  and  abhorring 

cries, 

The  Master  and  His  meek  disciples  went  to  see 
What  cause  for  this  commotion  and  disgust  could 

be, 

And  found  a  poor  dead  dog  beside  the  gutter  laid: 
Revolting  sight!  at  which  each  face  its  hate  be- 
trayed. 
One  held  his  nose,  one  shut  his  eyes,  one  turned 

away, 

And  all  among  themselves  began  aloud  to  say, 
'  Detested  creature !  he  pollutes  the  earth  and  air ! ' 
'  His  eyes  are  bleared ! '    'His  ears  are  foul ! '    '  His 

ribs  are  bare ! ' 
'  In  his  torn  hide  there  is  not  a  decent  shoe-string 

left!' 

'  No  doubt  the  execrable  cur  was  hung  for  theft ! ' 
Then  Jesus  spake  and  dropped  on  him  this  saving 
breath : 

'Even  pearls  are  dark  before  the  whiteness  of  his 
teeth!'" 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        269 

We  add  the  following  quotations  which  set  forth 
the  poverty,  humility  and  homelessness  of  the 
Christ  taken  from  Al-Ghazali's  "  Precious  Pearl  ": 
"  Consider  Jesus  Christ,  for  it  is  related  of  him  that 
he  owned  nothing  save  one  garment  of  wool  which 
he  wore  for  twenty  years  and  that  he  took  nothing 
with  him  on  all  his  wanderings  save  a  cruse  and  a 
rosary  and  a  comb.  One  day  he  saw  a  man  drink- 
ing from  a  stream  with  his  hands,  so  he  cast  away 
the  cruse  and  did  not  use  it  again.  He  saw  an- 
other man  combing  his  beard  with  his  fingers  so  he 
threw  away  his  comb  and  did  not  use  it  again. 
And  Jesus  was  accustomed  to  say,  *  My  steed  is  my 
legs,  and  my  houses  are  the  caves  of  the  earth, 
and  my  food  are  its  vegetables,  and  my  drink  is 
from  its  rivers,  and  my  dwelling-place  among  the 
sons  of  Adam ! '  In  another  connection  he 
writes:  "  It  was  said  to  Jesus:  '  If  you  would  take 
possession  of  a  house  and  live  there  it  would  be 
better  for  you/  and  he  said:  'Where  are  the 
houses  of  those  who  lived  before  us?'"  (Ihya, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  140.) 

A  story  is  related  (Vol.  IV,  p.  326)  to  show 
that  Christ  knew  what  was  in  the  hearts  of  men 
and  could  change  their  purposes  by  prayer  to  God. 
In  this  case  He  makes  an  old  man  cease  from  his 
work  of  cleaning  the  ground,  go  to  sleep  and  after- 
wards return  to  his  work. 

Another  story  is  as  follows:  "It  is  related  that 
Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace)  in  his  wanderings 


270       A  MOSLEM  SBEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

passed  by  a  man  asleep,  wrapped  up  in  his  garment. 
So  he  wakened  him  and  said:  '  O  thou  that  sleep- 
est!  arise  aoid  make  mention  of  God/  He  re- 
plied: '  What  do  you  want  from  me?  I  have  for- 
saken the  world  to  its  own/  Jesus  replied: 
'  Sleep  on  then  my  beloved/  "  (Vol.  IV,  p.  140.) 
"  It  is  related  concerning  Jesus  that  he  sat  in  the 
shade  of  a  wall  of  a  certain  man,  who  saw  him  and 
made  him  get  up,  but  he  replied:  '  You  have  not 
made  me  arise  but  verily  God  made  me  arise. 
He  does  not  wish  me  to  delight  in  the  shade  by 
day/"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  163.)  The  least  of  life's 
pleasures  is  not  for  the  ascetic  saint. 

"  Said  John  to  Jesus  (on  them  be  peace) :  '  Do 
not  be  angry/  Jesus  replied:  'I  am  not  able  to 
cease  from  anger  altogether  for  I  am  human/ 
Then  said  John:  '  Do  not  desire  property/  Jesus 
replied:  'That  is  possible/"  (Vol.  Ill,  p. 
114.) 

He  quotes  the  following  prayer  of  Jesus  (Vol.  I, 
p.  222):  "Jesus  was  accustomed  to  say  to  God, 
'  O  God,  I  have  arisen  from  my  sleep,  and  am  not 
able  to  ward  off  that  which  I  hate  and  am  not  able 
to  possess  the  benefit  of  that  which  I  desire  and  the 
matter  rests  in  hands  other  than  mine.  And  I  have 
pledged  myself  to  my  work  and  there  is  no  man  so 
poor  as  I  am.  O  God,  let  not  mine  enemies  rejoice 
over  me  and  let  not  my  friends  deal  ill  with  me, 
and  let  not  my  afflictions  come  to  me  in  the  matter 
of  my  religion.  And  do  not  allow  the  world  to 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        271 

occupy  my  care  and  do  not  allow  the  unmerciful  to 
overcome  me,  O  Thou  Eternal ! ' 

"  It  is  related  concerning  Jesus  (on  him  be 
peace)  that  God  spoke  to  him  saying:  'Though 
you  serve  me  with  the  worship  of  the  people  of 
heaven  and  earth  and  do  not  have  love  towards  God 
in  your  heart  but  hatred  toward  Him  it  will  not 
enrich  you  at  all/"  (Vol.  II,  p.  210.)  "God 
Most  High  said  to  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace), 
<  Verily  when  I  look  upon  the  secret  thoughts  of 
my  servant  and  do  not  find  in  them  love  either  for 
this  world  or  the  world  to  come  I  fill  him  with  my 
own  love  and  I  put  him  in  my  safe-keeping/  ' 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  258.)  In  the  "Alchemy  of  Happi- 
ness" we  already  found  allusion  to  this  subject: 
"Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace)  saw  the  world  in  the 
form  of  an  ugly  old  hag.  He  asked  her  how  many 
husbands  she  had  possessed;  she  replied  that  they 
were  countless.  He  asked  whether  they  had  died 
or  been  divorced ;  she  said  that  she  had  slain  them 
all.  '  I  marvel/  he  said,  *  at  the  fools  who  see  what 
you  have  done  to  others,  and  still  desire  you/  ' 
"  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  said,  '  The  lover  of  the 
world  is  like  a  man  drinking  sea-water;  the  more 
he  drinks,  the  more  thirsty  he  gets,  till  at  last  he 
perishes  with  thirst  unquenched/  ' 

Al-Ghazali,  however,  never  seems  to  have  drawn 
the  conclusion  from  the  life  of  Christ  which  a  care- 
ful study  of  the  Gospel  would  have  made  possible. 
Namely,  that  a  true  renunciation  of  the  world  is 


272       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

only  possible  in  the  service  of  others  and  not  by 
withdrawing  from  men.  Mohammedan  mysticism 
has  always  resulted  in  two  evils,  as  Major  Durie 
Osborn  points  out:  "  It  has  dug  a  deep  gulf  be- 
tween those  who  can  know  God  and  those  who 
must  wander  in  darkness,  feeding  upon  the  husks 
of  rites  and  ceremonies.  It  has  affirmed  with  em- 
phasis, that  only  by  a  complete  renunciation  of  the 
world  is  it  possible  to  attain  the  true  end  of  man's 
existence.  Thus  all  the  best  and  truest  natures — 
the  men  who  might  have  put  a  soul  in  the  decaying 
Church  of  Islam — have  been  cut  off  from  their 
proper  task  to  wander  about  in  deserts  and  solitary 
places,  or  expend  their  lives  in  idle  and  profitless 
passivity  disguised  under  the  title  of  '  spiritual  con- 
templation/ (zikr)  But  this  has  only  been  part 
of  the  evil.  The  logical  result  of  Pantheism  is  the 
destruction  of  the  moral  law.  If  God  be  all  in  all, 
and  man's  apparent  individuality  a  delusion  of  the 
perceptive  faculty,  there  exists  no  will  which  can 
act,  no  conscience  which  can  reprove  and  applaud. 
' .. '•••.;  ..  Thousands  of  reckless  and  profligate 
spirits  have  entered  the  orders  of  the  dervishes 
to  enjoy  the  license  thereby  obtained.  Their  af- 
fectation of  piety  is  simply  a  cloak  for  the  practice 
of  sensuality ;  their  emancipation  from  the  ritual  of 
Islam  involves  a  liberation  also  from  its  moral  re- 
straints. And  thus  a  movement,  animated  at  its 
outset  by  a  high  and  lofty  purpose,  has  degenerated 
into  a  fruitful  source  of  ill.  The  stream  which 


JESUS  CHRIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI       273 

ought  to  have  expanded  into  a  fertilising  river,  has 
become  a  vast  swamp,  exhaling  vapours  charged 
with  disease  and  death." 

Regarding  the  teaching  of  Jesus  we  find  the  fol- 
lowing passages  in  the  Ihya.  I  have  indicated  the 
parallel  passages  in  the  New  Testament  where  pos- 
sible. Some  of  them  are  taken  from  the  Gospel 
according  to  Matthew,  especially  from  the  Sermon 
on  the  Mount.  These  are  given  first  and  then  the 
apocryphal  sayings,  for  it  is  difficult  to  follow  any 
logical  order. 

"  Said  Jesus:  '  If  a  man  come  to  you  when  he  is 
fasting  let  him  anoint  his  head  and  wipe  his  lips 
that  men  may  not  say  he  is  fasting;  and  if  he  gives 
alms  with  his  right  hand  let  not  his  left  hand  know ; 
and  if  he  prays  let  him  put  a  curtain  over  his  door, 
for  verily  God  divines  his  trouble  even  as  He  does 
our  daily  food/"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  203.)' 

"  Said  Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace),  '  Whosoever 
shall  do  and  teach  shall  be  called  great  in  the  King- 
dom of  Heaven/  "  (Vol.  I,  p.  6 ;  cf .  Matt.  5.  19.) 

"  Said  Jesus,  '  Do  not  hang  pearls  on  the  necks 
of  swine ;  for  wisdom  is  better  than  pearls/  "  (Vol. 
I,  p.  43 ;  cf .  Matt.  7:6.)  "  Said  Jesus, '  How  long 
will  ye  describe  the  right  road  to  those  who  are 
going  astray  and  ye  yourselves  remain  with  those 
who  are  perplexed/"  (Vol.  I,  p.  44;  cf.  Matt. 
23:  13.) 

'The  story  is  repeated  in  Vol.  Ill,  p.  206;  cf.  Matt. 
6:i6-ia 


274       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTER  GOD 

"  Said  Jesus, '  The  teachers  of  evil  are  like  a  big 
stone  which  has  fallen  on  the  mouth  of  a  well  so 
that  the  water  cannot  reach  the  sown  fields." 
(Vol.  I,  p.  45;  cf.  Matt.  23:13.) 

"  Said  Jesus,  '  How  can  that  man  belong  to  the 
people  of  wisdom  who  from  the  beginning  of  his 
life  until  the  end  looks  only  after  the  things  of  the 
world? '  "  (Vol.  I,  p.  46;  cf.  Matt.  6:  33.) 

Again  he  makes  God  address  Jesus  as  follows: 
'  O  Son  of  Mary,  preach  to  yourself  for  if  you 
preach  to  yourself  you  will  be  able  to  preach  to 
man  and  if  not  fear  him/  "  (Vol.  I,  p.  47.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  *  Blessed  are 
those  who  humble  themselves  in  this  world,  for 
they  shall  be  the  possessors  of  thrones  on  the  day 
of  judgment.  Blessed  are  those  who  make  peace 
between  men  in  this  world,  for  they  shall  inherit 
Paradise  on  the  day  of  resurrection.  Blessed  are 
they  who  are  poor  in  this  world,  for  they  shall  be- 
hold God  Most  High  on  the  day  of  resurrection/  " 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  237;  cf.  Matt.  5:  3-9.) 

"  Some  one  said  to  Jesus:  '  Let  me  go  with  you 
on  your  wanderings/  He  replied:  'Dispose  ofall 
that  you  have  and  follow  me/  "  (Vol.  IV,  p.  170 ; 
cf.  Luke  9:  57  and  Matt.  19:  21.)  Here  two  pas- 
sages are  mixed. 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace), '  It  has  been  told 
of  ancient  times:  a  tooth  for  a  tooth  and  a  nose  for 
a  nose;  but  I  say  unto  you,  do  not  return  evil  for 
evil,  but  whosoever  strikes  you  on  the  right  cheek, 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        275 

turn  to  him  the  left  also ;  and  whosoever  desireth 
you  to  go  with  him  a  mile  go  with  him  twain ;  and 
whosoever  taketh  away  your  cloak  give  him  your 
inner  garment  also.' '  (Vol.  IV,  p.  52;  cf.  Matt 
5:  30-41.)  These  verses  seem  to  be  fairly  accu- 
rate quotations,  though  not  without  some  con- 
fusion, from  some  translation  of  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount. 

"  Said  the  disciples  to  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace), 
'  Behold  this  mosque  how  beautiful  it  is/  He  re- 
plied :  '  O  my  nation !  O  my  nation !  In  truth  I  say 
unto  you,  God  will  not  suffer  a  stone  to  remain 
upon  a  stone  in  it  but  he  will  destroy  it  because  of 
the  sins  of  its  people.  Truly  God  does  not  care  for 
gold  and  silver  nor  does  he  care  for  these  stones  at 
which  ye  marvel;  but  the  things  which  God  loves 
most  are  pure  hearts,  with  them  God  can  build  up 
the  earth,  and  if  they  are  not  good  they  are 
wasted/"  ("Ihya,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  288;  cf.  Matt. 
24:3.) 

"  Said  Jesus :  '  Do  not  take  the  world  for  your 
master,  for  she  will  make  you  her  slave.  Lay  up 
your  treasures  with  him  who  will  not  lose  them. 
For  he  who  lays  up  treasure  in  the  earth  fears  that 
which  will  destroy  them ;  but  he  who  has  treasures 
with  God  does  not  fear  for  anything  that  may  in- 
jure them'  (Matt.  6:9-21).  And  Jesus  said 
also:  'O  company  of  the  Apostles,  behold  I  have 
poured  out  the  world  upon  the  ground,  therefore 
do  not  take  hold  of  it  again  after  me,  for  the  evil  of 


276       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

this  world  is  that  men  disobey  God  in  it.  And  the 
evil  of  the  world  also  is  that  the  other  world  can- 
not be  obtained  without  abandoning  the  present. 
Therefore  pass  through  the  world  but  do  not  build 
in  it.  Know  that  the  root  of  all  sin  is  the  love  of 
the  world  and  perchance  the  desire  of  an  hour  will 
cause  those  who  follow  it  to  lose  the  other  world 
altogether/  He  also  said:  *  I  have  cast  the  world 
before  you  and  ye  have  sat  upon  its  back,  do  not 
therefore  suffer  kings  or  women  to  dispute  its  pos- 
session with  you.  As  for  kings,  do  not  dispute 
with  them  for  its  possession,  for  they  will  not  give 
it  back  to  you.  And  as  for  women,  guard  your- 
selves against  them  by  prayer  and  fasting/  "  (Vol. 
Ill,  p.  139.)  "Said  Jesus:  'The  love  of  this 
world  and  of  the  world  to  come  cannot  abide  in  the 
same  heart  even  as  water  and  fire  cannot  abide  in 
one  vessel/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  140.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  O  ye  teachers 
of  wickedness!  Ye  fast  and  pray  and  give  alms 
and  do  not  what  ye  command  others  and  ye  teach 
that  which  ye  do  not  understand.  How  evil  is  that 
which  ye  do.  Ye  repent  only  with  words  butyour 
deeds  are  without  value.  In  vain  do  ye  purify 
your  skins  while  your  hearts  are  covered  with  evil. 
I  say  unto  you,  be  not  as  the  sieve  from  which  the 
good^  flour  passes  out  and  all  that  remains  in  it  are 
the  sittings.  Thus  ye  make  the  truth  to  pass  out 
of  your  mouths,  but  deceit  remains  in  your  hearts, 
O  servants  of  the  world !  How  can  any  one  under- 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        277 

stand  the  other  world  while  his  desires  cling  to 
this  ?  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you  that  your  hearts 
shall  weep  because  of  your  deeds.  Ye  have  put  the 
world  upon  your  tongues  and  trampled  upon  good 
deeds.  Of  a  truth  I  say  unto  you,  ye  have  cor- 
rupted your  future  life,  for  ye  are  more  in  love 
with  the  good  things  of  this  world  than  of  the  good 
things  of  the  world  to  come.  Which  of  the  chil- 
dren suffers  greater  loss  than  ye  do,  if  only  ye  knew 
it!  Woe  be  to  you!  How  long  will  ye  describe 
the  right  way  to  those  who  are  in  darkness  and  ye 
yourselves  remain  in  the  place  of  doubt?  It  is  as 
if  ye  invite  the  children  of  the  world  to  forsake  its 
pleasure  in  order  to  leave  it  for  yourselves  a  little 
while.  Woe  be  to  you !  What  benefit  is  it  to  the 
darkened  house  if  the  candle  be  put  on  its  roof 
while  the  rooms  of  the  house  remain  in  darkness  ? 
In  the  same  way  ye  will  not  be  enriched  if  the  light 
of  knowledge  is  on  your  lips,  while  your  hearts  re- 
main in  darkness.  O  ye  servants  of  the  world! 
what  of  your  righteousness  or  your  freedom? 
Perchance  the  world  will  pluck  you  up  by  the  roots 
and  cast  you  upon  your  faces  and  drag  you  in  the 
dust.  It  will  expose  your  sins  upon  your  fore- 
heads, then  it  will  drive  you  before  it  until  you  are 
delivered  up  to  the  angel  of  judgment,  every  one  of 
you  naked.  Then  shall  you  be  punished  by  your 
evil  deeds.'"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  183;  cf.  Matt.  23: 
1-S7.) 

"  Do  not  be  anxious  about  the  food  of  to-mor- 


278       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

row,  for  perhaps  to-morrow  will  be  your  time  of 
death/1    (Vol.  IV,  p.  330;  cf.  Matt.  6:  34.) 

"  Behold  the  bird,  it  does  not  sow  nor  reap  nor 
lay  up  store  and  God  Most  High  provides  for  it" 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  190;  cf.  Matt.  6:  26.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'He  is  not 
wise  who  does  not  rejoice  when  he  enters  upon 
trials  and  sicknesses  of  the  body  and  loss  of  his 
possessions ;  for  in  it  he  may  find  atonement  for  his 
sins/ '  (Vol.  IV,  p.  205;  cf.  Matt.  5:  10.) 

"  It  is  related  of  Jesus  that  he  said:  '  If  you  see 
a  young  man  passionately  fond  of  prayer  to  God 
you  will  know  that  he  has  escaped  all  tempta- 
tions." (Vol.  IV,  p.  221;  cf.  Matt.  26:41.) 
The  reference  might  be  to  Christ's  words  in  the 
Garden  of  Gethsemane. 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  Serve  God  by 
hating  the  people  who  transgress,  and  draw  near 
to  God  by  departing  from  them.  Seek  the  good- 
will of  God  by  hating  them/  They  said  to  him: 
'  O  spirit  of  God,  with  whom  then  shall  we  keep 
company?  '  He  answered  them:  '  Keep  company 
with  those  who  make  you  remember  God  and  tyose 
whose  words  improve  your  conduct  and  those 
whose  example  makes  you  earnest  for  the  world  to 
come."  (Vol..  II,  p.  no.) 

"It  is  related  of  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  that 
he  said  to  the  children  of  Israel:  '  Where  does 
that  which  ye  sow  grow?  •  They  replied:  •  In  the 
good  ground/  and  he  said:  •  Verily  I  say  unto  you, 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        279 

wisdom  does  not  grow  except  in  the  heart  which  is 
good  soil/"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  256;  cf.  Matt.  13: 
1-9.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  *  Truly  the 
harvest  does  not  grow  on  the  mountain  but  in  the 
plain.  Thus  wisdom  works  in  the  heart  of  those 
that  are  humble  and  not  in  the  heart  of  the  proud.'" 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  240;  cf.  Matt.  13:  23.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  Fine  garments 
make  proud  looks/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  247.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  *  What  ails  you 
that  ye  come  in  the  garments  of  monks  and  your 
hearts  are  the  hearts  of  ravening  wolves?  Wear 
the  garments  of  monks  if  you  wish  but  humble  your 
hearts  with  godly  fear/"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  247;  cf. 
Matt.  7:  15.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  O  company  of 
disciples,  call  upon  God  Most  High  that  he  may 
make  light  for  you  this  terror,  namely,  death.  For 
I  fear  death  in  such  a  fashion  that  I  stand  afraid 
of  the  same/  '  Is  it  possible  that  Al-Ghazali  here 
refers  to  the  agony  in  Gethsemane?  The  chapter 
in  which  this  passage  occurs  is  entitled  "  The  ter- 
rors of  death/'  (Vol.  IV,  p.  324;  cf.  Matt. 
26:  38.) 

We  now  give  other  "  sayings  "  of  Jesus,  as  Al- 
Ghazali  himself  does,  in  somewhat  confused  order. 
Although  not  quotations  or  even  misquotations 
from  the  Gospels,  they  are  of  interest  as  completing 
the  list  and  also  because  they  show  what  Al-Ghazali 


280       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

and  other  Moslems  thought  was  the  teaching  of 
Jesus  the  Prophet. 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  How  many  a 
sound  body  and  beautiful  face  and  eloquent  tongue 
will  to-morrow  cry  out  in  the  fires  of  hell!' 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  383.) 

"  Said  Jesus,  '  Which  of  you  can  build  a  house 
upon  the  waves  of  the  sea?     Such  is  the  world; 
therefore  do  not  take  it  as  an  abiding  place/ ' 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  141.) 

"  They  said  to  Jesus, '  Teach  us  the  secret  of  the 
love  of  God/  He  replied:  *  Hate  the  world  and 
God  will  love  you/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  141;  cf.  James 
4:4.) 

"  Said  Jesus,  *  O  my  disciples,  be  satisfied  with 
the  least  of  the  world  as  long  as  your  religion  is  at 
peace  even  as  the  people  of  the  world  are  satisfied 
with  the  least  of  religion  and  their  possessions  are 
at  peace/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  142.) 

"  Said  Jesus, '  O  thou  who  seekest  the  world  for 
the  sake  of  pure  gold,  the  forsaking  of  the  world  is 
greater  treasure/  "  (Vol.  III/p.  142.) 

"  They  asked  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  which  is 
the  best  of  good  works.  He  replied:  'To  accept 
whatever  God  does  with  pleasure  and  to  love 
him/'  (Vol.  IV,  p.  258.) 

"Said  Jesus  the  Son  of  Mary  (on  him  be 
peace),  '  Woe  to  the  lover  of  this  world  how  soon 
he  shall  die  and  leave  it  and  all  that  is  in  it.  The 
world  deceives  him  and  he  trusts  it  and  has  confi- 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        281 

dence  in  ii,  etc/"     (Vol.  Ill,  p.  141;  cf.  Luke 
12:21.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  *  Mortify  then 
your  bodies  that  your  soul  may  see  your  Lord/  " 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  56;  cf.  Rom.  8:  13.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'The  likeness 
of  him  who  teaches  good  works  and  does  not  do 
them  is  that  of  a  woman  who  commits  adultery  in 
secret  and  then  the  result  of  her  crime  becomes  evi- 
dent to  all  around  her  from  her  condition/  '  (Vol. 
I,  p.  48.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'Whosoever 
turns  away  a  beggar  from  his  house  the  angels  will 
not  visit  that  dwelling  for  seven  days/  '  (Vol.  II, 
p.  162.)  This  saying  is  often  quoted  by  Moslems 
to-day.  They  all  believe  Jesus  was  the  friend  of 
the  poor  and  needy. 

"Said  Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace),  'Blessed  is 
he  to  whom  God  has  taught  his  book ;  he  will  not 
die  a  proud  oppressor/  "  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  235.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  Blessed  is  the 
eye  which  sleeps  and  does  not  regard  transgression 
but  is  wide-awake  for  that  which  is  not  sinful/ ' 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  260.) 

"  The  disciples  said  to  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace), 
'  What  is  the  best  of  good  works?  '  He  replied: 
s  That  which  is  done  to  God  and  in  which  you  seek 
the  praise  of  no  one  else/  "  (Vol.  IV,  p.  273.) 

"  Said  the  disciples  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  Mary: 
'  O  Spirit  of  God !  Is  there  any  one  on  earth  like 


282       A  MOSLEM  SEEKBE  AFTEE  GOD 

thee?'  He  replied:  'Yes.  For  whosoever  is 
girded  with  the  remembrance  of  God  and  is  silent 
because  of  this  and  who  looks  only  for  the  favour 
of  God,  he  is  like  me/  "  (Vol.  IV,  p.  305.) 

"  Said  Jesus,  '  Beware  of  the  evil  look,  for  when 
it  is  in  the  heart  it  produces  lust  and  evil  desire/  ' 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  74;  cf.  Matt.  5:  28.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'Whosoever 
multiplies  lies  his  beauty  departs  from  him:  and 
whosoever  increases  care  his  body  becomes  ill;  and 
whosoever  has  a  bad  character  punishes  himself/  " 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  85.) 

"  Said  Jesus:  '  The  greatest  sin  with  God  is  that 
his  servant  should  say,  '  God  Knows/  concerning 
something  which  he  knows  is  untrue,  or  that  he  tell 
lies  concerning  what  he  has  seen  in  his  dreams/  " 
(Vol.  Ill,  p.  98.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace)  to  his  disciples: 
'How  would  you  act  if  you  saw  one  of  your 
brothers  sleeping  and  the  wind  had  taken  off  his 
garment?'  They  said:  'We  would  cover  him/ 
Said  Jesus:  'No,  but  you  would  expose  him/ 
They  said:  'God  forbid!  Who  would  do  such  a 
thing!'  He  replied:  'When  one  of  you  h^ars  a, 
word  against  his  brother  he  exaggerates  it  and 
spreads  the  report  to  others ! '  "  (Vol.  II,  p.  142. ) 

"  It  is  related  that  Jesus  '(upon  him  be  peace) 
said, '  O  company  of  disciples,  ye  are  free  of  trans- 
gression, but  we  the  company  of  apostles  are  free 
of  infidelity/ '  (Vol.  IV,  p.  124.) 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI       283 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  With  difficulty 
will  the  rich  man  enter  paradise.' '  (Vol.  IV,  p. 
140;  cf.  Christ's  saying,  Matt.  19:  23.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace), '  Truly  I  do  not 
love  a  fixed  dwelling  place  and  I  dislike  the  pleasure 
of  the  world.'  "  (Vol.  IV,  p.  140.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  '  Do  not  look 
upon  the  property  of  the  people  of  this  world  for 
its  glory  is  as  nothing  in  the  light  of  your  faith.' ' 
(Vol.  IV,  p.  144.) 

"  It  was  said  to  Jesus:  *  If  you  will  allow  us  we 
will  build  a  house  and  worship  God  in  it.'  He  re- 
plied :  '  Go  and  build  a  house  upon  the  sea/  They 
said:  '  How  can  we  build  upon  such  a  foundation?  ' 
He  replied :  '  How  can  your  worship  exist  together 
with  your  love  of  the  world?'"  (Vol.  IV, 
p.  158.) 

"  It  is  related  that  Jesus  said:  '  Four  things  do 
not  come  to  us  except  with  difficulty.  Silence, 
which  is  the  first  principle  of  worship,  humility,  the 
abundant  remembrance  of  God  and  poverty  in  all 
things.'"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  159.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  whosoever  seeketh  heaven  let  him  eat 
barley-bread  and  sleep  on  the  dunghill  with  the 
dogs.  This  is  enough  for  me/ '  (Vol.  IV,  p. 
164.) 

"  Jesus  was  accustomed  to  say,  *  O  children  of 
Israel,  let  the  water  of  the  brook  suffice  you  and 
the  vegetable  of  the  field  and  the  barley  loaf ;  and 


284       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEB  GOD 

beware  of  the  white  loaf  for  it  will  keep  you  from 
worship/"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  164.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'My  food  is 
hunger;  all  my  thoughts  are  fear  of  God;  my  dress 
is  wool;  my  warming-place  in  winter  is  the  rays  of 
the  sun;  my  candle  is  the  moon;  my  steed  is  my 
legs;  my  food  is  fruit  that  springs  from  the 
ground;  I  go  to  bed  and  have  nothing  and  arise 
without  anything;  and  yet  there  is  no  one  richer 
than  I  am/"  (Vol.  IV,  p.  146.) 

"  Said  Jesus  (upon  him  be  peace),  '  The  world 
is  a  bridge ;  therefore  cross  over  it  and  do  not  build 
on  it.'"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  149.) 

"Said  Jesus  (on  him  be  peace),  'Whosoever 
seeks  the  world  is  like  him  who  drinks  water  from 
the  salt  sea.  The  more  he  drinks  the  more  he 
thirsts.5"  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  149.)  This  occurs  for  the 
second  time,  but  Al-Ghazali  loves  to  repeat  his  own 
sayings  as  well,  often  in  the  same  book. 

"  It  is  related  in  the  gospels  that  whosoever  shall 
ask  for  forgiveness  of  him  who  praises  him,  has 
driven  away  the  devil."  (Vol.  Ill,  p.  127.) 

The  following  quotations  or  references  tj>  the 
Gospel  occur  in  some  of  his  shorter  works.  In  the 
"Alchemy  of  Happiness,"  there  is  this  reference  to 
the  Gospel:  "Whosoever  sows  reaps,  whosoever 
sets  out  arrives,  and  whosoever  seeks  finds."  (Cf. 
Matt.  7:7.)  We  have  already  quoted  the  words 
from  his  epistle,  "  O  Child  ":  "  Verily  I  have  seen 
in  the  Gospels,  etc."  In  the  same  epistle  he  refers 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        285 

to  the  parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus:  "  When  the 
people  of  hell  will  say  to  the  people  of  the  garden, 
'  Give  us  a  little  water  from  that  which  God  has 
granted  you  to  cool  our  tongues/ '  He  quotes 
Jesus  as  saying:  "I  was  not  unable  to  raise  the 
dead,  but  I  was  unable  to  cure  the  folly  of  fools," 
and  quotes  the  Golden  Rule  in  several  places  with- 
out acknowledging  its  source  as  being  the  Gospel 
of  Jesus. 

All  this  and  what  he  says  in  his  "Alchemy  of 
Happiness  "  about  the  love  of  God  leaves  no  doubt 
in  my  mind  that  he  had  read  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  a  sort  of  Moslem  Version  of  St.  John's  Epistles 
and  St.  John's  Gospel.  The  great  Mystic  gives 
seven  signs  of  love  to  God.  The  first  is  not  to  be 
afraid  of  death.  The  second  is  to  prefer  the  love 
of  God  to  any  worldly  object.  The  third  sign  of 
a  man's  love  to  God  is  that  the  remembrance  of 
God  is  always  fresh  in  his  heart.  He  never  ceases 
to  meditate  upon  God.  Every  man  thinks  and 
calls  to  mind  an  object  in  proportion  to  his  love  to 
it.  The  fourth  is  love  and  respect  for  the  Koran. 
The  fifth,  secret  prayer.  The  sixth,  to  find  the 
worship  of  God  delightful.  And  the  seventh  sign 
of  love  to  God  is,  "  That  a  man  loves  the  sincere 
friends  and  obedient  servants  of  God,  and  regards 
them  all  as  his  friends.  He  regards  all  the  enemies 
of  God  as  his  enemies  and  abhors  them.  And 
God  thus  speaks  in  his  eternal  word :  '  His  com- 
panions are  terrible  towards  the  infidels,  and  tender 


286       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEE  GOD 

towards  each  other/  A  Sheikh  was  once  asked, 
'  Who  are  the  friends  of  the  exalted  and  blessed 
God  ? '  He  replied :  '  The  friends  of  God  are  those 
who  are  more  compassionate  to  the  friends  of  God 
themselves,  than  a  father  or  a  mother  to  their  chik 
dren.'  "  *  (Compare  Psalm  103.) 

There  seems  a  great  difference  between  Al-Gha- 
zali  as  dogmatic  theologian,  always  compelled  to 
agree  with  the  Koran,  and  Al-Ghazali  as  the  Mys- 
tic, when  he  begins  to  speculate  and  lift  the  veil. 
We  are  constantly  reminded  of  the  words  of  An- 
selm  in  his  great  work  on  the  existence  of  God: 
"I  do  not  attempt,  O  Lord,  to  penetrate  Thy 
depths,  for  I  by  no  means  think  my  intellect  equal 
to  them;  but  I  long  to  understand  in  some  degree 
Thy  truth,  which  my  heart  believes  and  loves,  for  I 
do  not  seek  to  understand  that  I  may  believe,  but  I 
believe  that  I  may  understand." 

Whenever  Al-Ghazali  speaks  of  God's  nearness 
to  us  and  of  the  soul's  desire  for  human  fellowship 
with  the  creator,  he  comes  very  close  to  the  Chris- 
tian idea  of  the  Incarnation,  and  yet  always  stops 
short  of  it.  In  his  "  Alchemy  of  Happiness/*  for 
example,  he  mentions  as  the  fourth  cause  of  love  to 
God  the  affinity  that  exists  between  man  and  his 
Maker,  referring  to  the  saying  of  the  Prophet: 

'These  last  quotations  are  from  the  translation  by  Homes 
which  was  from  the  Turkish.  There  seem  to  be  several 
editions  of  the  "Alchemy  of  Happiness"  and  the  text 
varies  as  well  as  the  number  of  chapters. 


JESUS  CHEIST  Iff  AL-GHAZALI       287 

"Verily  God  created  man  in  his  own  likeness." 
Immediately  afterwards,  however,  he  goes  on  to 
say:  "This  is  a  somewhat  dangerous  topic  to 
dwell  upon,  as  it  is  beyond  the  understanding  of 
common  people,  and  even  intelligent  men  have 
stumbled  in  treating  of  it,  and  come  to  believe  in 
incarnation  and  union  with  God.  Still  the  affinity 
which  does  exist  between  man  and  God  disposes  of 
the  objection  of  those  theologians  mentioned  above, 
who  maintain  that  man  cannot  love  a  Being  who  is 
not  of  his  own  species.  However  great  a  distance 
between  them,  man  can  love  God  because  of  the 
affinity  indicated  in  the  saying,  '  God  created  man 
in  His  own  likeness/  ' 

Al-Ghazali  would  doubtless  have  accepted  the 
statement  in  the  Gospel,  "  No  man  hath  seen  God 
at  any  time,"  but  he  omits  "  the  only  Begotten  Son 
who  is  in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  He  hath  de- 
clared Him."  In  speaking  of  the  vision  of  God  he 
says,  "All  Moslems  profess  to  believe  that  the 
Vision  of  God  is  the  summit  of  human  felicity  be- 
cause it  is  so  stated  in  the  Law ;  but  with  many  this 
is  a  mere  lip-profession  which  arouses  no  emotion 
in  their  hearts.  This  is  quite  natural,  for  how  can 
a  man  long  for  a  thing  of  which  he  has  no  knowl- 
edge ?  We  will  endeavour  to  show  briefly  why  the 
vision  of  God  is  the  greatest  happiness  to  which  a 
man  can  attain. 

"  In  the  first  place,  every  one  of  man's  faculties 
has  its  appropriate  function  which  it  delights  to 


288       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

fulfill.  This  holds  good  of  them  all,  from  the  low- 
est bodily  appetite  to  the  highest  form  of  intellec- 
tual apprehension.  But  even  a  comparatively  low 
form  of  mental  exertion  affords  greater  pleasure 
than  the  satisfaction  of  bodily  appetites.  Thus  if 
a  man  happens  to  be  absorbed  in  a  game  of  chess, 
he  will  not  come  to  his  meal  though  repeatedly 
summoned.  And  the  greater  the  subject-matter  of 
our  knowledge,  the  greater  is  our  delight  in  it ;  for 
instance,  we  would  take  more  pleasure  in  knowing 
the  secrets  of  a  king  than  the  secrets  of  a  vizier. 
Seeing  then  that  God  is  the  highest  possible  object 
of  knowledge,  the  knowledge  of  Him  must  afford 
more  delight  than  any  other.  He  who  knows  God, 
even  in  this  world,  dwells,  as  it  were,  in  a  paradise, 
'the  breadth  of  which  is  as  the  breadth  of  the 
heavens  and  the  earth/  a  paradise  the  fruits  of 
which  no  envy  can  prevent  him  plucking,  and  the 
extent  of  which  is  not  narrowed  by  the  multitude 
of  those  who  occupy  it."  (See  1  John  4:  7-21.) 

"  But  the  delight  of  knowledge  still  falls  short 
of  the  delight  of  vision,  just  as  our  pleasure  in 
thinking  of  those  we  love  is  much  less  th^n  the 
pleasure  afforded  by  the  actual  sight  of  them.  Our 
imprisonment  in  bodies  of  clay  and  water  and  en- 
tanglement in  the  things  of  sense  constitute  a  veil 
which  hides  the  vision  of  God  from  us,  although  it 
"does  not  prevent  our  attaining  to  some  knowledge 
of  Him.  For  this  reason  God  said  to  Moses  on 
Mount  Sinai, '  Thou  shalt  not  see  Me/  " 


JESUS  CHBIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        289 

In  this  book  also  we  are  reminded  of  the  state- 
ment that  only  "  the  pure  in  heart "  can  see  God, 
and  it  seems  scarcely  possible  that  what  Al-Ghazali 
here  teaches  is  not  based  on  a  knowledge  of  the 
Gospel.  He  says:  "He -in  whose  heart  the  love 
of  God  has  prevailed  over  all  else  will  derive  more 
joy  from  this  vision  than  he  in  whose  heart  it  has 
not  so  prevailed;  just  as  in  the  case  of  two  men 
with  equally  powerful  eyesight  gazing  on  a  beauti- 
ful face,  he  who  already  loves  the  possessor  of  that 
face  will  rejoice  in  beholding  it  more  than  he  who 
does  not.  For  perfect  happiness,  mere  knowledge 
is  not  enough  unaccompanied  by  love,  and  the  love 
of  God  cannot  take  possession  of  a  man's  heart  till 
it  is  purified  from  the  love  of  the  world,  which 
purification  can  only  be  effected  by  abstinence  and 
austerity."  How  close  is  this  teaching  to  the  words 
of  Christ,  "  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart,  for  they 
shall  see  God"!  It  is  the  vision  of  God  which 
Al-Ghazali  sought  through  all  his  religious  experi- 
ences as  the  highest  good  in  this  world  and  in  the 
next.  Yet  with  all  his  efforts  to  explain  the  nature 
of  the  soul  and  of  God,  he  still  finds  himself  before 
a  blank  wall.  He  covets  the  vision  of  God  but 
cannot  shake  himself  free  from  the  Moslem  concep- 
tion that  God  is  unknowable  and  that  nothing  in 
creation  resembles  the  Creator.  As  Muhammed 
Iqbal  says:  "To  this  day  it  is  difficult  to  define 
with  accuracy  Al-Ghazali's  view  of  the  nature  of 
God.  In  him,  like  Borger  and  Solger  in  Germany, 


290       A  MOSLEM  SEEKER  AFTEB  GOD 

Sufi  pantheism  and  the  Ash'arite  dogma  of  person- 
ality appear  to  harmonize  together,  a  reconciliation 
which  makes  it  difficult  to  say  whether  he  was  a 
Pantheist,  or  a  Personal  Pantheist  of  the  type  of 
Lotze.  The  soul,  according  to  Al-Ghazali,  per- 
ceives things.  But  perception  as  an  attribute  can 
exist  only  in  a  substance  or  essence  which  is  abso- 
lutely free  from  all  the  attributes  of  body.  In  his 
Al-Madnun,  he  explains  why  the  prophet  declined 
to  reveal  the  nature  of  the  soul.  There  are,  he 
says,  two  kinds  of  men:  ordinary  men  and  thinkers. 
The  former  who  look  upon  materiality  as  a  condi- 
tion of  existence,  cannot  conceive  an  immaterial 
substance.  The  latter  are  led,  by  their  logic,  to  a 
conception  of  the  soul  which  sweeps  away  all  dif- 
ference between  God  and  the  individual  soul.  Al- 
Ghazali,  therefore,  realized  the  Pantheist  drift  of 
his  own  inquiry  and  preferred  silence  as  to  the 
ultimate  nature  of  the  soul." 

We  have  seen  what  Al-Ghazali  teaches  regarding 
the  life  and  character  of  Jesus  and  also  of  God's 
relation  to  us  through  the  love  of  those  who  seek 
Him  with  all  their  hearts.  Are  these  onty/Mos- 
lems,  or  is  there  a  wider  love  of  God?  Are  all 
souls  in  His  keeping? 

What  were  Al-Ghazali's  ideas  regarding  the 
salvation  of  those  not  in  the  fold  of  Islam?  We 
have  two  striking  passages  in  this  connection  which 
seem  to  contradict  each  other.  They  were  prob- 

"The  Development  of  Metaphysics  in  Persia,"  p.  75. 


JESUS  CHRIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        291 

ably  written  at  different  periods  of  his  life.  The 
first  passage  which  is  remarkable  indeed  for  his  day 
and  his  place  in  Islam  occurs  on  page  22  of  his 
book  Faisul  Al-Tafriqa  Bain  al  Islam  w'al  Zandiqa 
and  reads  as  follows:  "I  here  state  that  most 
Christians  of  the  Greeks  and  of  the  Turks  in  our 
day  will  be  included  in  the  mercy  of  God.  Namely, 
those  who  are  on  the  confines  of  the  empire  and  to 
whom  the  call  to  embrace  Islam  has  not  come.  For 
they  consist  of  three  classes:  One  class  has  never 
heard  the  name  of  Mohammed  (upon  whom  be 
prayers  and  peace)  and  they  are  excusable.  An- 
other class  have  heard  of  his  name  and  title  and 
the  miracles  which  were  wrought  by  him ;  they  who 
live  as  neighbours  among  Moslems;  these  are  the 
true  infidels  and  sceptics.  And  the  other  class  are 
between  these  two ;  they  have  heard  of  the  name  of 
Mohammed  (upon  him  be  prayers  and  peace),  but 
have  not  heard  of  his  title  and  character.  On  the 
contrary  they  have  heard  from  their  youth  up  that 
he  is  a  liar  and  deceiver  called  Mohammed,  who 
pretended  to  have  the  gift  of  prophecy:  in  the  same 
way  as  our  children  have  heard  of  a  false  prophet 
in  Khorasan  called  Al-Mukaffa  who  pretended  to 
be  a  prophet.  And  these  last,  in  my  opinion,  be- 
long to  the  first  class  as  to  their  hope  for  the  fu- 
ture." This  account  is  the  more  remarkable  be- 
cause in  this  very  chapter  he  says  that  God  told 
Adam,  according  to  Tradition,  "  that  out  of  a 
thousand  of  his  descendants  nine-hundred-and- 


292       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

ninety-nine   go    to   hell    and    one    only    will    be 

saved." 

On  the  last  page  of  the  Ihya,  however,  Al-Gha- 
zali  expresses  the  opinion  that  on  the  day  of  judg- 
ment not  a  single  Mohammedan,  whatever  be  his 
character,  will  enter  the  fire!  He  then  quotes  a 
tradition  which  says  that  for  every  Moslem  de- 
signed to  go  to  hell  God  will  at  the  last  day  substi- 
tute a  Jew  or  a  Christian,  evidently  approving  this 
substitution-doctrine  as  satisfactory  to  God's  mercy 
towards  all  who  confess  Mohammed  and  to  His 
decree  that  hell  shall  be  filled  with  its  quota  of  un- 
believers. (See  Surah  50:  29.)  The  last  page  of 
the  Ihya,  alas,  again  'shows  the  Moslem  spirit  of  in- 
tolerance which  prevails  even  to-day.  Men  do  not 
remember  the  more  liberal  judgment  in  his  other 
treatise.  Al-Ghazali's  attitude  towards  Christian- 
ity and  his  quotations  from  the  Gospel  narrative 
did  much  to  leaven  Persian  thought  and  gave  Jesus 
of  Nazareth  a  large  place  in  later  mysticism  espe- 
cially in  the  foremost  mystical  poet  the  immortal 
author  of  the  Masnavi,  Jallal-ud-Din  Ar  Rumi.  He 
draws  the  great  Lesson  from  the  life  of  Christ 
which  Al-Ghazali  only  hints  at  in  his  quotations; 
namely  that  Jesus  is  the  Life-giver: 

"  Thyself  reckon  dead,  and  then  thou  shalt  fly 
Free,  free,  from  the  prison  of  earth  to  the  sky ! 
Spring  may  come,  but  on  granite  will  grow  no 

green  thing : 
It  was  barren  in  winter,  'tis  barren  in  spring; 


JESUS  CHEIST  IN  AL-GHAZALI        293 

And  granite  man's  heart  is,  till  grace  intervene. 
And,  crushing  it,  clothe  the  long  barren  with  green, 
When  the  fresh  breath  of  Jesus  shall  touch  the 

heart's  core, 
It  will  live,  it  will  breathe,  it  will  blossom  once 

more." 


The  City  of  Mashad,  close  to  the  ruins  of  Tus, 
where  Al-Ghazali  was  born  and  where  he  died,  has 
been  truly  described  as  the  Mecca  of  the  Persian 
world.  Its  streets  are  crowded  with  a  hundred 
thousand  pilgrims  every  year.  The  American 
Presbyterian  Church  has  an  important  work  there, 
and  the  Bible  Societies  report  thousands  of  copies 
of  the  Bible  sold  there.  "  We  have  inundated  the 
City  of  Mashad  with  the  Word  of  God,"  wrote  the 
late  Mr.  Esselstyn ;  "  in  the  bazaars  I  have  repeat- 
edly been  warned  some  one  will  kill  me  if  we  do  not 
stop  selling  the  Scriptures  and  preaching.  But 
'  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always '  keeps  ringing  in  my 
ears  and  we  continue.  The  Scriptures  that  have 
been  sold  in  and  around  Mashad  are  sown  seed  and 
in  due  time  we  shall  reap  if  we  faint  not." 

To-day  the  black-browed  Afghan,  the  Uzbek 
Tartar,  the  dervish,  travel-stained  and  footsore, 
nay  the  poorest  lad  of  Khorasan  can  buy  the  whole 
story  of  what  Jesus  did  and  taught.  No  Moslem 
is  now  dependent  on  Al-Ghazali's  few  quotations 
from  the  Gospel.  A  new  day  has  dawned  for 


294       A  MOSLEM  SEEKEE  AFTEE  GOD 

Persia  and  the  Near  East.  Everywhere  the  New 
Testament  is  better  known  than  any  of  the  ninety- 
nine  works  of  Al-Ghazali,  and  we  may  also  say, 
without  exaggeration,  that  the  New  Testament 
finds  a  larger  circle  of  readers.  The  mystics  in 
Islam  are  near  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  for  them 
Al-Ghazali  may  be  used  as  a  schoolmaster  to  lead 
men  to  Christ.  Did  not  the  author  of  the  Gulshan- 
i-Raz  (the  Garden  of  Mysteries)  write:  "Dost 
thou  know  what  Christianity  is?  I  shall  tell  it 
thee.  It  digs  up  thine  own  Ego,  and  carries  thee 
to  God.  Thy  soul  is  a  monastery  wherein  dwells 
oneness,  thou  art  Jerusalem,  where  the  Eternal  is 
enthroned ;  the  Holy  Spirit  works  this  miracle,  for 
know  that  God's  being  rests  in  the  Holy  Spirit  as  in 
His  Own  Spirit."  And  such  seekers  after  God 
to-day  will  find  those  who  will  lead  them  to 
CHRIST.  For,  as  Dr.  J.  Rendel  Harris  expressed  it: 
"All  of  us  who  love  Christ  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  we  live  in  the  same  street  and  are  on  the  same 
telephone,  some  of  us  that  we  are  lodged  next  door 
to  one  another  and  can  knock  on  the  partitions,  a 
few  that  we  are  all  under  the  same  roof  arid  all 
within  arm's  length  and  heart  reach." 


Appendix 

A.    BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Abu  Nasir  Abd  ul  Wahab  Taqi  id  Din  as  Subqi. — 
Tabaqat-ash-Shafa'iya  al  Kubra.  Vol.  IV,  pp. 

IOI-IO2. 

Barbier  de  Meynard,  M.  C. — Traduction  nouvelle  du 
traite  de  Ghazzali  intitule  le  Preservatif  de 
Terreur  et  notices  sur  les  extases  (des  Soufis). 
(Journal  Asiatique,  Paris,  1877.) 

Brockelmann,  Carl — Geschichte  der  Arabischen  Lit- 
teratur,  Weimar,  1898,  2  vols. 

Chenery,  Thomas — The  Assemblies  of  Al-Hariri, 
London,  1878,  Trans. 

Clark,  Edson  L. — The  Arabs  and  the  Turks,  Boston, 

1875.  •  ,<*"  **- 

"DeBoer,  T.  J.— The  History  of  Philosophy  in  Islam, 

London,  1903. 
Dozy,  (Trans,  by  Francis  Griffin  Stokes) — Spanish 

Islam,  London,  1913. 
De  Vaun,  Cara — Gazali  (Les  Grand  Philos. — Felix 

Alcan),  Paris,  1912. 
Encyclopaedia  Britannica. 
Field,  Claud — The  Alchemy  of  Happiness,  by  Gha- 

zali  (from  Hindustani). 

— The  Confessions  of  Al-Ghazali,  London,  1909, 

Trans. 

— Mystics  and  Saints  of  Islam,  London,  1910. 

— Persian  Literature,  London  (undated). 
Fortescue,  Adrian— The  Lesser  Eastern  ChurcHes, 

London,  1913. 
Gairdner,  W.  H.  T.— Al-Ghazali's  Mishkat-ul-Anwar 


296  APPENDIX 

and  the  Ghazali  Problem,  Der  Islam,  Bd.  V, 
Heft  2/3. 

Gardner,  W.  R.  W. — Al-Ghazali.  In  Islam  Series, 
Christian  Literature  Society  for  India,  1919. 

Gautier,  Lucien — Ad-Dourra  al-fakhira:  La  perle 
precieuse  de  Ghazali.  Traite  d'eschatologie 
musulmane,  public  .  .  .  avec  une  traduction 
francaise.  Geneve,  1878. 

Gosche,  von  R. — Uber  Ghazzali,  Leben  und  Werke, 
Berlin,  1859. 

Huart,  Clement — A  History  of  Arabic  Literature, 
London,  1903. 

Hurgronje,  Dr.  C.  Snouck — Mekka;  Haag,  1886. 

Ibn  Khallikan. 

Jackson,  A.  V.  Williams — "  From  Constantinople  to 
the  Home  of  Omar  Khayyam":  New  York, 
Macmillan  Company,  1911. 

Jayakar,  Lt  Col.  A.  S.  G.— Ad-Damiri's  Hayat  Al- 
Hayawan  (under  Al-Hammam),  Vol.  I,  London, 
1906,  Trans. 

Jewish  Encyclopaedia,  The. 

Journal  of  The  American  Oriental  Society,  Vol.  XX, 
pp.  71-132.  New  Haven,  Conn.,  1898. 

Lane-Poole,    Stanley — Mediaeval    India    under   Mo- 
hammedan Rule,  in  the  Story  of  the  National 
'7  ^<  u  Series,  London,  1903. 

' 'Mohammed  Iqbal— The  Development  of  Metaphysics 
in  Persia,  London,  1908. 

Miguel  Asin  et  Palacios — Al  Gazel :  Domatica  moral, 
Ascetica.     (Zargoza.     Spain,  1901.) 
— Logia  et  Agrapha  Domini  Jesu  apud  Mos- 
lemicos   Scriptores,   etc.      (Latin   and  Arabic) 
Firmin-Didot  and  Co.,  Paris,  1917. 

Le  Strange,  G.-— Baghdad  during  the  Abbasid  Caliph- 
ate, Oxford,  1900. 

Macdonald,  D.  B.~ Aspects  of  Islam,  New  York, 
1911. 

—Emotional  religion   in   Islam  as   affected  by 
music  and  singing.    Being  a  translation  of  a, 


APPENDIX  297 

book  of  the  Ihya  'Ulum  ad-Din  of  Al-Ghazzali 
with     analysis,     annotation     and     appendices. 
(Royal  Asiatic  Society.     Journal.     1901.) 
V^— Encyclopaedia  of  Islam,  Leyden — art.,  "  Gha- 
zali." 

— The  Life  of  Al-Ghazali  with  special  reference 
to  his  religious  experiences  and  opinions  (Journal 
American  Oriental  Society). 
— Muslim  Theology,  Jurisprudence  and  Consti- 
tutional Theory.      1903. 

— The  Religious  Attitude  and  Life  in  Islam,  Chi- 
cago,  1909. 

vMurtadha — Introduction  to  the  Celebrated  Commen- 
tary of  the  Ihya  entitled  Ithaf  ul  Sa'ada.  Cairo 
Edition. 

Nicholson,  Reynold  A. — Kashf  Al-Mahjub,  the  old- 
est Persian  Treatise  on  Sufism  by  Al-Hujwiri, 
London,  1911. 

— Literary  History  of  the  Arabs,  New  York, 
1907. 

Noldeke,  Theodore — Sketches  from  Eastern  History, 
London,  1892. 

Osborn,  Robert  Durie — Islam  Under  the  Khalifs  of 
Baghdad,  London,  1878. 

Saladin,  H. — Manuel  d'art  Musulman,  Paris,  1907, 
Vol.  I. 

Tyrwitt,  W.  S.  S. — Cairo,  Jerusalem  and  Damascus, 
London,  1907. 

B.    TRANSLATIONS    OF   AL-GHAZALI'S 
WORKS 

Hebrew. 
Makasid    al    Falasifah — De'ot    ha-Pilusufim — Isaac 

Albalag,  I3th  C. 

— Kawwanot     ha  -  Pilusufim  —  Judah     Nathan, 

I4th  C. 
Tahafut  al-Falasifah — Happalat  ha-Pilusufim — Zera- 

hiah  ha-Levy,  1411. 


298  APPENDIX 

Ma'amar  bi-Teshubot  She'elot  Nish'al  Mehem  (An- 
swers to  Philanthropical  Questions) — H.  Malter, 
Frankfort-on-the-Main,  1897;  also  called  Kaw- 
wanot  ha-Kawwanot 

— Mozene     ha-'Iyyunin  —  Jacob     ben     Makir 
(d.  1308). 

Mizan  al-'Amal — Mozen  Zedek — Abraham  Ibn  Haz- 
dai  ben  Samuel  ha-Levy  of  Barcelona,  ed.  J. 
Goldenthal,  Leipsic,  1839. 

Mishkat  al-Anwar  fi  Riyad  al-Azhar  bi-Taufik  al- 
Anhar — Maskit  ha-Orot  be-Pardes  ha-Nizzanim 
— Isaac  ben  Joseph  Alfasi. 

Latin. 

Maqasid  Falasifa  —  Logica  et  Philosophia  —  Dom. 
Gundisalvi,  Venetiae,  1506. 

German. 
Kitab    aiyuha'l    walad— O    Kind!      Die    beriihmte 

ethische  Abhandlung  Ghazali's  arab.  u.  deutsch, 

v.  Hammer-Purgstall,  Wien  1838. 
Kitab  Tahafut  al  Falasifa — Die  Widerspriiche  der 

Philosophic  nach  Al-Ghazzali  und  ihr  Ausgleich 

durch  Ibn  Rushd,  Strassburg,  1894. 
Antworten  auf  Fragen,  die  an  ihn  gerichtet  wurden, 

hebr  u.  arab.    Text  mit  deutschen  iibers.  Erklar- 

ung  und  Glossen  v.  H.  Malter,  Frankfurt,  1896. 
Ihya  'ulum  id  Din— German  translation  in  course  of 

preparation  by  H.  Bauer. 

French. 
Ad  durra  al  fakhira  fi  kasf  'ulum  al  akhira— La  Perle 

poeoieuse  de  Ghazali>  ed.  par  L.  Gautier,  Geneve, 
1878. 

Al  munqidh  min  ad  dhalal— ed.  Schmolders,  Essai 
sur  les  ecoles  philosophiques  chez  les  Arabes. 
Pans,  1842. 


APPENDIX  299 

Translated  by  Barbier  de  Meynard,   1877,   in 
Journal  Asiatique,  vol.  ix. 

English. 
f  VTCimija  as   saa'da — The   Alchemy  of  Happiness — 

H.  A.  Homes,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  1873. 
vThe  Alchemy  of  Happiness — Claud  Field,  London, 

1908. 

^The  Confessions  of  Al-Ghazali — Claud  Field,  Lon- 
don, 1909. 

Turkish. 

There  are  two  manuscript  translations  of  Al-Ghazali's 
Nasa'ih-ul-Muluk  in  Turkish.  Also  an  Arabic 
version  of  the  Persian  original.  (See  Browne's 
Handlist  of  Cambridge  University  Library  Ara- 
bic MSS.  Nos.  1185  and  220.) 

The  Alchemy  of  Happiness  is  also  widely  known  in  a 
Turkish  version  from  which  the  earliest  English 
version  by  Homes  was  made. 


C    LIST  OF  AL-GHAZALI'S  WORKS 

In  Arabic  alphabetical  order  according  to  As-Subqi, 
Al-Murtadha  (Vol.  I,  pp.  41-83),  and  other  sources. 

1.  Ihya  'Ulum  id  Din — (Revival  of  the  Sciences  of 

Religion). 

2.  Al  Imla'  'Ala  Mushkal  al  Ihya — (supplement  to 

above). 

3.  Al'Arba'in—  ( on  the  Koran) . 

4.  Asma  Allah  al  Husna — (on  the  names  of  God). 

5.  Al-Iqtasad  fi  'Itiqad — (Speculative  Theology). 

6.  II jam  al  'A warn  'an  'ilm  al  Kalam — (Warning 

against  scholasticism) . 

7.  Asrar  Mu'amalat  id  Din — (Mysticism). 

8.  Asrar  al  anwar  al  ilahiya — (on  the  Koran). 


300  APPENDIX 

9.    Akhlaq   al   abrar   wa   najat   mm   al    ashrar— - 
(Ethics). 

10.  Asrar  itba'a  as  sunna — (Tradition). 

11.  Asrar  al  huruf  wa'l  kalimat— (Koran  Myste- 

ries). 

12.  Ayyuha'l  walad — (O  child! — written  in  Persian 

originally — Ethics  and  Manners). 

13.  Badayat  al  Hadaya — (Beginner's  book  in  re- 

ligion). 

14.  Al  Basit  fi  furu'a  al  Madhhab — (Jurisprudence). 

15.  Bayan  al  Qaulain — (Creed). 

16.  Bayan  Fadha'a  al  Abahiya — 

17.  Bada'a  as  Saniya. 

18.  Tanbih  al  Ghafalin. 

19.  Talbis  Iblis. 

20.  At  Takbir  fi  'ilm  al  ta'abir — (Interpretation). 

21.  Tahafut  al  filasafa — (Against  Philosophy). 

22.  Ta'liqa  fi  furua'  al  Madhab — (Written  at  Jurjan 

against  the  Ismailite  heresy). 

23.  Tahsin  al  Maqsud — 

24.  Tahsin  al  Adilla — (Sources  of  Islam). 

25.  Tafsir  al  Quran  al  'Azim — (Brief  Koran  Com- 

mentary). 

26.  Al  Tafriqa  bain  al  iman  wa'l  zindiqa — 

27.  Jawahir  al  Quran — (Beauties  of  the  Koran). 

28.  Hujjat  al  Haqq — 

29.  Haqiqat  al  Ruh — (Mysticism). 

30.  Haqiqat  al  Qaulain— (on  the  Creed). 

31.  Al  Durra  al  Fakhira— (The  Precious  Pearl), 

32.  Khalasat  ar  Rasa'il — (Jurisprudence). 

33.  Khulasat  al-tasanif  fi  1-tasawwuf. 
34-  Risalat  al  Oudsiya. 

35.  Risalat  al  Aqtab. 

36.  Al  Risalat  al  Laduniya. 

37-     Risalat  at  Tair—  (Parable  on  the  Birds). 

38.     Sirr  al  Ma'sun — (on  the  magical  use  of  the 

Koran  text). 

39-     Sirr  al-'alamain  wa-kashf  ma  fi  '1-darain. 
40.     Sharh  Da'irat  'AH  ibn  Talib, 


APPENDIX  301 

41.  Shifa'  al  Ghalil — (On  Logic). 

42.  'Aqidat  al  Misbah. 

43.  'Aja'ib  Sana'a  Allah. 

44.  'Anqud  al  Mukhtasar. 

45.  Ghayat  al  Ghur  fi  Misa'il  al  daur — (On  Di- 

vorce). 

46.  Ghaur  al  Daur — (also  on  Divorce)  written  in 

Bagdad  484  A.  H. 

47.  Al  Fatawa — (One  hundred  and  ninety  questions 

answered). 

48.  Fatihat  al  'Ulum — (Encyclopaedia  of  Sciences). 

49.  Al  Qanun  al  Kulli. 

50.  Qanun  ar  Rasul. 

51.  Al  Qurbat  ila  Allah — (On  Nearness  to  God). 

52.  Al  Qistas  al  Mustaqim — (Sources  of  Islam). 

53.  Al  Qaul  al  jamil  fi  radd  'ala  man  ghaiyar  al  Injil 

— (On  the  corrupting  of  the  Gospel  text). 

54.  Kimiya  as  Saa'da — (The  Alchemy  of  Happi- 

ness ;  written  in  Persian  and  afterwards  trans- 
lated). 

55.  Kashf  'Ulum  al  Akhira— (Eschatology). 

56.  Al  Kashf  wa'l  tabyin  fi  ghurur  al  Khalk  ajma'in 

— (Mysticism). 

57.  Kanz  al  'Idat. 

58.  Kitab  al  'arba'in. 

59.  Al  Lubab  al  Muntaqal  fi  '1  Jadal— (On  Contro- 

versy). 

60.  Al  Mustasfa  fi  'Usul  al  Fiqh — (Jurisprudence). 

His  most  important  and  largest  work  on  this 
subject;  several  commentaries  were  written 
on  it  later. 

61.  Al  Manqul  fi'l  'Usul. 

62.  Al  Maksud  fi  Khilafiyat  bain  al  Hanifiya  wa'sh 

ShafTya — (on  these  two  schools  of  jurispru- 
dence). 

63.  Al  Madadi  wa'l  Ghayat  fi  asrar  al  Huruf  al 

Maknumat. 

64.  Al    Majalis    al    Ghazaliya — (Collection    of   his 

Bagdad  sermons). 


302  APPENDIX 

65.  Maqasid  al  filasaf a— (Philosophy). 

66.  Al  Munqidh   min   adh-Dhalal—  (His  Confes- 

sions, Autobiographical). 

67.  Mi'yar  al  Urn  fi'l  Mantiq— (Logic) . 

68.  Mi'yar  al  Nazir— (Logic). 

69.  Mahal  al  Nazir — 

70.  Mishkat  al  anwar  fi  lata'if  al  akhyar — (Ethics). 

71.  Al  Mustazhir  fi  radd  'ala  1  Batiniya — (Contro- 

versial). 

72.  Al-Madmm  bihi  ala  ghairi  ahlihi — Book  to  be 

kept  from  those  unfitted  for  it.     (Esoteric.) 

73.  Al-Madnun  al-saghir — Book  to  be  kept  from 

those  unfitted  for  it.     (Esoteric.) 

74.  Mishkat  al-anwar — (Mysticism). 

75.  Mizan  al  'Amal — (A  compendium  of  Ethics). 

76.  Mawahib  al  Batiniya — (similar  to  No.  71,  but 

abbreviated) . 

77.  Al  Minhaj  al  A'ali — 

78.  Miraj  as  Salikin — 

79.  Mukashafat  al  quluti — 

80.  Mufasal  al  Khilaf  fi  'Usul  al  Qiyas— 

81.  Minhaj  al  'Abidin  ila  Janat  Rab  al  'Alamin — 

(His  last  work:  a  popular  epistle  on  the  Mys- 
tic way). 

82.  Nasikhat  al  Muluk — (Written  in  Persian  and 

called  in  the  Arabic  translation  Al  Tibr  al 
Masbuk;  a  book  of  counsel  for  kings  and 
princes). 

83.  Al  Wajiz — (Jurisprudence).    Several  conamen- 

taries  were  written  on  this  work  and  it  is 
much  used. 

84.  Al    Wasit — (a    celebrated   book    in    Jurispru- 

dence).   Several  commentaries. 

85.  Yaqut  at  Ta'wil  fi  Tafsir  at  Tanzil— (Commen- 

tary on  the  Koran  in  40  vols.). 

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